Laurence Dollimore
THE more contagious coronavirus strain has been detected in Spain for the first time.
Four cases of the so-called ‘British variant’ are believed to have been found in a family Madrid.
A young traveller tested positive after flying in from London on Tuesday this week.
His mother, father and sister are now awaiting results of confirmatory PCR test.
None of the family members are in a serious condition.
It comes after health minister Salvador Illa said the vaccine would continue to be effective against the new strain.
He previously admitted: “We have no evidence that the new strain has arrived, by the does not mean it is not here in Spain.”
BioNtech, the company which worked to develop the Pfizer vaccine, said earlier this week that its jab will be effective against the new strand.
“We are going to perform tests,” said president of the German lab Ugur Sahin, “but we are sure that our vaccine will be effective.”
He added: “In the past we have tested against 20 variants of the virus with different types of mutations and the result was always positive.”
More to follow…
