Know all about COVID-22, new variant which is deadlier than Delta

Amid the world preparing for the third wave of the COVID-19, an expert has now warned about a new emerging variant in 2022. According to Immunologist Professor Doctor Sai Reddy, the public has to be ready for this new variant as it could be a "big risk".

Doctor Sai Reddy, who is a Zurich-based scientist said that it was "inevitable" for the virus to combine and make a deadlier strain of virus, especially with variants like Delta (India), Beta (South African), and Gamma (Brazil) in the picture.

The Sun quoted Prof Reddy as saying, "COVID-22 could get worse than what we are witnessing now. If such a variant appears, we have to recognize it as early as possible and the vaccine manufacturers have to adapt the vaccine quickly. The emergence of this new variant is a big risk. We have to prepare for it."

It is only natural for a virus to evolve and therefore experts warn that COVID variants will keep on rising in the future.

Sage, the group of scientists advising the UK Government, in a paper published on July 30 said that there was a strong possibility of COVID becoming more deadly, terming it a "realistic possibility".

Dr Chris Smith, consultant virologist, and lecturer at Cambridge University, while speaking on BBC Breakfast, said, "We all agree that (the pandemic) is not over until it is over in every corner of the world because otherwise, it will just come roaring back."

Dr Smith further added, "Don't forget we think that this started with a handful of cases in one city, in one corner of one country… and it then eclipsed the entire world. But one must not take one’s eye off the ball here because it would be very easy to unstitch all of the good work we’ve done so far if it turns out with the time we do lose immunity because the vaccines wane in their effectiveness."