France detects new variant of COVID-19 in Brittany

France is studying a new variant of COVID-19 detected in Brittany, which is being investigated for its degree of transmission and whether it causes harsher effects on those affected, the Directorate General of Health said on Monday. The French health ministry reports that after an initial analysis there is no certainty that it is a more severe variant or that it spreads more quickly.

The new strain was sequenced from an outbreak at the Lannion hospital in the northwest of the country, with 79 cases, eight of which had this new variant, the health ministry said. For the time being, the authorities have decided to place it "under surveillance", after several patients with symptoms of COVID-19 tested negative in PCR tests.

The analyses carried out on this new variant "do not allow us to conclude that it is neither more serious nor more contagious" than the traditional strain, although "in-depth investigations" are being carried out to find out more about it. It will also be sought to determine whether current vaccines are effective against this new strain. All screening centres in France have been informed to take this new strain into account in their analyses. "In-depth research is being carried out to better understand this variant and its impact. Experiments will also be carried out to determine how this variant reacts to vaccination and to antibodies developed during previous infections," reads the statement from Minister Olivier Veran. 

Highly contagious variants of COVID-19 identified in Britain, Brazil and South Africa have already been detected in France. Currently, the strain detected in Britain accounts for 67% of new infections in France, while the variants identified in Brazil and South Africa account for 6%, according to data published by health authorities.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, more than 4 million people in France have tested positive for COVID-19, of whom 90,762 have died. As of Monday, 25,469 COVID-19 patients were hospitalised, including 4,219 in intensive care.

As the world struggles to contain the pandemic, vaccination is underway in a growing number of countries, including France, with currently licensed vaccines. Meanwhile, 263 vaccine candidates are still being developed worldwide, 81 of them in clinical trials, in countries including China, Germany, Russia, Britain and the United States, according to information released by the World Health Organisation on Friday. 

Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron had said France would stop administering AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine as a "precaution" pending a reassessment by the European Union's medicines regulator. Macron's decision followed a similar announcement by the German and Italian governments.

The number of COVID-19 patients in the Paris region alone in intensive care units on Friday topped 4,000 for the first time since November 26, with nearly 1,100 COVID-19 patients in ICUs. In Paris and the surrounding region, health care managers say intensive care units are close to being overloaded.

Jean Castex said that in the Ile-de-France region near Paris, the vaccination campaign would be accelerated this weekend, with an additional 25,000 doses being delivered. France's vaccination programme has been hampered by logistical bottlenecks and problems with deliveries from vaccine manufacturers, but Jean Castex said the campaign was accelerating, with 320,326 injections administered on Friday, a new record.