Lambda: A more dangerous mutation of Covid-19, highly resistant to any vaccine

By Edward Era Barbacena

As the world battles against the Delta variant of Covid-19, it's a lesser-known mutation that has experts worried.

The Lambda variant was first identified by the World Health Organisation and labelled a variant of interest back in December 2020.

Although slower than the Delta variant, which is rapidly spreading across the globe, Lambda has only spread to around 29 countries so far.

Lambda (also known as variant C37) was first seen in Peru in August 2020. Since then, it has spread to 29 countries, mainly in South America.

More research is required to determine how its mutations push transmission, its ability to infect those who are vaccinated, and the severity of the disease in infected patients - both vaccinated and unvaccinated.

While research into the strain is still in its early days, data so far suggests a couple of key features of the variant which have experts worried.

Like the Delta variant, it is highly transmissible and it may be able to dodge vaccines more readily than the original version of the virus.

It accounts for more than 80 per cent of all Covid-19 cases in Peru, according to its National Institute of Health.

Dr Pablo Tsukayama, a molecular microbiologist at Cayetano Heredia University, Lima, said indications are that Lambda is more transmissible.

"When we found it, it did not attract much attention,"