Is the new nCoV mutation discovered in Vietnam worth worrying about?

According to Professor Dang Duc Anh, the mutation has just been discovered and still needs further monitoring and research.

Responding to reporters at noon on May 30, Professor Dang Duc Anh, Director of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (Hanoi), said that Vietnam had just discovered a new mutation of nCoV in 4/32 patient samples.

Mutations may also be one of the factors leading to faster spread.

According to Professor Duc Anh, the Indian strains spread faster than previous strains of the virus. Mutations may also be one of the factors leading to faster spread. Clinically, the mutant virus also causes more severe conditions than those infected with the old strain.

However, the B.1.617.2 data on GISAID currently does not record the Y144 deletion mutation.

"Vietnam has identified this mutation, however, the number of samples is still small so the institute will continue to research and monitor further," said Professor Duc Anh.

The new mutation detected from the four samples is Y144 on the S protein of the B.1.617.2 virus (first detected in India). This mutation is similar to the mutation detected on the B.1.1.7 variant (first detected in the UK). This is the first time Vietnam has detected a variant with such a mutation.

At the Government meeting on the morning of May 29, Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long informed that the virus currently prevalent in Vietnam is the Indian strain, which has shown signs of increased infectiousness and more severe disease compared to previous outbreaks.

GISAID is a map of SARS-CoV-2 gene sequencing results , continuously updated by scientists around the world. This map is consulted by scientists in different countries, closely following the changes of SARS-CoV-2.