[dabigv13]

Hard to know what to make of it. A similar but genetically distant mutated strain occurred in South Africa and is increasing in prevalence at expense of other strains as well, and both have the same protein change in the spike epitope. Whether this has clinical significance, too early to tell. But it would not be unusual for a virus out in the wild for more than a year to develop a more transmissible mutation.

[dabigv13]

Hard to know what to make of it. A similar but genetically distant mutated strain occurred in South Africa and is increasing in prevalence at expense of other strains as well, and both have the same protein change in the spike epitope. Whether this has clinical significance, too early to tell. But it would not be unusual for a virus out in the wild for more than a year to develop a more transmissible mutation.