LONDON, Oct 20 (Reuters) - A subvariant of Delta that is
growing in England is being monitored but is not likely to
change the COVID-19 picture, Oxford Vaccine Group chief Andrew
Pollard said on Wednesday.
The subvariant, designated as AY.4.2 in Britain, is growing
and accounted for about 6% of all sequences generated, the UK
Health Security Agency said last week, but it has not been
labelled as "under investigation" or a "variant of concern".
"Discovery of new variants is of course important to
monitor, but it doesn't indicate that that new variant is going
to be the next one to replace Delta," Pollard told BBC radio.
"Indeed even if it does, Delta is incredibly good at
transmitting in a vaccinated population and a new one may be a
bit better but it's unlikely to change the picture dramatically
from where we are today."
(Reporting by Alistair Smout; Editing by Kate Holton)