President of the Italian Society of Virologists, director of the microbiological laboratory Arnaldo Caruso said that coronavirus strain found in the country may be resistant to existing vaccines, RIA News.
According to him, the previously identified 'Nigerian' strain was found in northern Italy in Brescia, Lombardy province.
Caruso explained that this strain is characterized by mutations against which current vaccines may not be effective.
The emergence of a new strain of coronavirus in Nigeria became known at the end of December last year.
Earlier, the WHO reported that the number of countries in which new strains of coronavirus are found continues to grow. Thus, the “British” mutation of the VOC 202012/01 virus was found in seven more countries. The total number of states where this strain is present has reached 101.