Covid-19: Pandemic risks worsening on Africa variants, scientists say

A study of genomes from 33 African nations tracks the evolution of the pandemic and the emergence of a number of so-called Variants of Concern and Variants of Interest

The proliferation of Covid-19 variants in Africa, partly attributed to the low rates of vaccination on the continent, could lead to vaccine-evading mutations that complicate attempts to end the pandemic, a group of 112 African and 25 international organizations said.

A study of genomes from 33 African nations and two “overseas territories,” published in the journal Science on Thursday, tracks the evolution of the pandemic across the continent and the emergence of a number of so-called Variants of Concern and Variants of Interest. One of those, beta, spread around the globe earlier this year and rendered some vaccines partially ineffective.