March 2, 2021

the Brazil SARS-CoV-2 variant (Lineage P.1) – what we know so far

The emerging SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern Lineage P.1 is growing rapidly in Brazil, and several cases have now also been confirmed in the UK. A new preprint study from researchers at the University of São Paulo, in collaboration with Imperial College London and the University of Oxford, shows that this P.1 lineage is estimated to be more transmissible and more likely to evade protective immunity from prior infection than non-P.1 lineages, emphasising the importance of enhanced global genomic surveillance of variants of concern to accelerate pandemic responsiveness.

Researchers discussed their new insights on the P.1 lineage, transmissibility, immunity, what we do know and what we don’t know yet. Please note, this is a preprint that has not yet been peer-reviewed or published, so the data is in preliminary form.

Speakers included:

Dr Nuno Faria, Reader in Viral Evolution, MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, Imperial College London

Dr Thomas Mellan, Research Associate, MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, Imperial College London

Prof Ester Sabino, Associate Professor in the Department of Infectious Diseases, University of São Paulo (Brazil)

Prof Sharon Peacock, Director of COG-UK, and Professor of Public Health and Microbiology, University of Cambridge