A new mutated strain is spreading rapidly across the southeast of England, prompting fears of an escalation just as vaccine breakthroughs were providing hope.

Experts reassured.

There is no evidence that this new strain is more deadly, but it could be up to 70% Mawr infectious and increase the our rate, or how much it spreads by not 700.4.

A faster spread means more cases and, inevitably, more deaths.

It was first seen in Britain in September.

By the start of December in London, 62% of cases were due to the new variant.

Much is unknown about this strain, but experts are hopeful current vaccines should still be effective.

The vaccines work by targeting different areas of the virus, including that all important and distinctive shape of the protein spike.

The new variant contains 23 changes to the original, but many of those relate to how it binds to and enters cells.

Julian Tang is a virologist at the University of Leicester.

People must have looked at this in 51 y mutation looked at where the mutation has occurred on, try to predict how much that would have changed the protein shape, and they probably they.

It looks like it sounds like they figured out that, in fact, it won't change it that much.

So the vaccine induce antibodies s protein.

Just don't buy into it on give you protection from the virus.

With existing vaccine ends, experts warned that future mutations of coronavirus remain unknown.

Influenza and HIV have continually mutated over the years, evading vaccines.

The key is to slow a virus is spread before it has a chance to adapt to radically.

While the new strain has also been detected in Australia, Italy and the Netherlands, it appears to be the most dominant in southern England, prompting numerous countries to close their borders to UK travelers.

It was first discovered through public health.

England's genomic surveillance.

Britten reportedly possesses some of the best global analysis of mutations.