Magiorkinis: Strain of COVID-19 found in central Athens is Nigerian variant

"There is neither a Greek nor an Athenian variant of COVID-19," Assistant Professor of Hygiene and Epidemiology Gkikas Magiorkinis said in an interview this morning after some experts and  certain press reports expressed concerns over a strain of the virus was identified in central Athens.

"Baptising this variant as an "Athenian mutation" is a global first," Magiorkinis said with a touch of irony, noting that variants of viruses always are named after the first place they were identified.

He underlined that the variant recently found in COVID-19 cases in central Athens is the Nigerian strain that was isolated before February.

Magiorkinis said that this particular variant is being studied "because it is becoming more frequent [among confirmed cases] yet we have seen this with other mutations as well".

"What usually occurs in such cases is that we can confirm increased transmissibility. For example, although at first the South African variant appeared to fall in this category, in the end we did not see that. It has not caused particular problems even though it has spread to many countries."

Magiorkinis noted that there have been about 1,000 confirmed cases involving the Nigerian variant and those were not detected by random sampling but rather from testing of targeted groups.

Asked whether existing vaccines are effective in providing immunity against the Nigerian variant he said that until now patients who have been vaccinated and who have been infected have done well, even though most are senior citizens.

The finding, combined with the general lifting of most lockdown measures recently and the more lax behaviour of citizens in implementing protective measures, initially raised concerns.

The president of the National...