At least four cases of the Brazilian strain of Coronavirus strain have been recorded in Belgium, local media reported on Tuesday.
Two of those infected live in Brussels, one in Flanders and one in Liege, in the city of Seraing, while a possible fifth case of the mutation in Brussels is being investigated, Belgian newspaper De Standaard reported.
“You don’t expect to pick up a variant that is not present in the community in large numbers. Maybe these are people who have been in contact with people who have travelled abroad. The fact that three institutes have now encountered the variant could suggest it is more widely present than we anticipated. Coming days should provide greater clarity,” said Piet Maes of the Rega Institute in Leuven, local media VRT reported.
The new variant is considered to be more contagious than the other known variants, prompting fears it could circumvent existing immunity and undermine the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines.
“This Brazilian variant displays mutations identical to those of the South African variant. It’s already been shown vaccines are less effective against the South African variant. We can expect that they will be less effective against this variant too,” Maes added.
