What is the Kent Covid strain and why is it more contagious?

THE KENT variant of Covid-19 has mutated to escape immune responses and has been found in over 60 countries across the world.

Official reports today revealed that the variant could resist vaccines that are already in circulation.

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So far 9.2 million Brits have received a first dose of their Covid jab, with nearly half a million having received their second.

Experts are now concerned that the Kent variant could get around vaccines.

The variant has been behind a surge in Covid-19 cases and hospitalisations since December 2020 - which forced the PM to tighten Christmas rules before placing England into a third national lockdown on January 5.

Public Health England (PHE) said that new data on the variant was "worrying".

The mutation, known as E484K, is already present in both South African and Brazilian coronavirus variants.

Laboratory studies have shown that antibodies are less able to bind to a part of the virus known as the spike protein, in order to stop it from unlocking human cells to gain entry.

It was previously thought this mutation was not present in the UK variant,  also known as B.1.1.7.

But a recent report published by PHE said gene sequencing has shown that the E484K mutation has occurred spontaneously in only a handful of cases of the UK variant.

Where has the new strain of Covid come from? 

The new strain's scientific name is VUI 2020/01, with VUI standing for Variant Under Investigation.

Essentially, the mutant strain's origins are still being probed by PHE's laboratories at Porton Down, Wiltshire.