Now, coronavirus UK strain shows concerning mutation: What you need to know

While all mutations found in emerging variants of coronavirus should be monitored, scientists are particularly interested in mutations occurring in its spike protein, specifically the RBD section

If there’s one coronavirus mutation that keeps scientists awake at night, it’s E484K. The mutation was found in both the South African variant (B1351) and the Brazilian variant (P1), but not in the UK variant (B117). This so-called “escape mutation” raised fears that the approved COVID vaccines may not be as effective against these variants. The E484K mutation has now been found in the UK variant as well – albeit in just 11 cases.

The coronavirus mutates slowly, accumulating around two single-letter mutations per month in its genome. This rate