Lambda strain contains mutation that could defeat vaccine

The Lambda variant, which is raging in Peru, has become a new concern because it contains "unusual" mutations that pose a higher risk of vaccine resistance.

"Our data show for the first time that mutations in the spike protein help the Lambda variant escape neutralizing antibodies, increasing the risk of infection," researchers at the University of Chile in Santiago said in a study published last week.

According to the study, this could be the reason why the Lambda variant , which is believed to account for more than a third of infections in Chile, is still rampant, despite Chile being one of the fastest-vaccinating countries in the world.

"Given the rapid spread of this variant in Peru, Ecuador, Chile, and Argentina, we assess that Lambda has a significant risk of becoming a variant of concern ," the study concluded.

A nurse prepares a dose of the Covid-19 vaccine to be administered to a health worker at a hospital in Lima, Peru, on February 10. (Photo: AP).

Jeff Barrett, director of the Covid-19 Genomics Initiative at the UK's Wellcome Sanger Institute, said the reason studying the threat from Lambda has been so difficult is that the variant has gathered "a fairly unusual set of mutations ," adding that at least one of them appears to be similar to the Delta variant, making both highly infectious.

The Lambda variant, also known as C.37 , which is believed to have first emerged in Peru in August 2020, is being blamed for the country reporting the highest Covid-19 death toll per capita in the world. The variant accounts for 81% of new infections in Peru since April.

About 30 countries have reported the Lambda variant, mostly in Latin America, but the UK has also reported at least eight cases.

The World Health Organization (WHO) last month designated Lambda as a 'variant of concern.' The agency's virologist Jairo Mendez-Rico said that so far, 'we have not seen any indication that the Lambda variant is more aggressive.' 'It may lead to higher transmission rates, but we don't have enough reliable data to compare it to Gamma or Delta ,' Mendez-Rico said.

The WHO also stressed that "further studies are needed to confirm the efficacy of vaccines" against the Lamda variant. Current popular vaccines are said to still be able to protect well against the Delta variant, which was first detected in India and is spreading in more than 90 other countries.