Top Italian experts said Monday that the COVID-19 vaccine will still be effective after a new, more infectious stain of the coronavirus was detected in the UK.
"There had already been strains in the recent past and there may be others in the future," said Francesco Vaia, the health director at Rome's Spallanzani infectious-diseases hospital. "As things are, this does not mean the illness has become worse or more lethal. The vaccine has not been put into doubt".
Franco Locatelli, the president of Italy's Higher Health Institute (ISS), also said Monday that the virus mutation should not affect the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Experts at the Spallanzani have started the procedure to isolate the sequence of the new strain.
Analysis is being done on tests conducted on a passenger who landed at Rome's Fiumicino airport on a flight from London on Sunday and who tested positive for the coronavirus.
Sources close to Coronavirus Emergency Commissioner Domenico Arcuri said the emergence of the new strain will not affect Italy's COVID-19 vaccination plan. The campaign is expected to start next week after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) approved the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID vaccine on Monday.
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