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Latest News on 'Lambda' Variant Makes 'Delta' Look Downright Adorable

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With Americans growing more nervous by the minute regarding the possibility of another economic downturn spurred by the delta variant of COVID-19, there is another threat on the horizon gaining steam.

The delta variant is bad enough, having cranked up the contagiousness from the original Wuhan strain, while also increasing the viral load to the point that breakthrough infections are occurring in fully-vaccinated individuals.

Luckily, the vaccines are seemingly doing their job and preventing catastrophic illness from the delta variant, but this may not be true with the up-and-coming “lambda” variant.

The Lambda variant of the coronavirus, first identified in Peru and now spreading in South America, is highly infectious and more resistant to vaccines than the original version of the virus the emerged from Wuhan, China, Japanese researchers have found. In laboratory experiments, they found that three mutations in Lambda’s spike protein, known as RSYLTPGD246-253N, 260 L452Q and F490S, help it resist neutralization by vaccine-induced antibodies. Two additional mutations, T76I and L452Q, help make Lambda highly infectious, they found. In a paper posted on Wednesday on bioRxiv ahead of peer review, the researchers warn that with Lambda being labeled a “Variant of Interest” by the World Health Organization, rather than a “Variant of Concern,” people might not realize it is a serious ongoing threat.

Some have already begun to sound the alarm.

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Although it is not clear yet whether this variant is more dangerous than the Delta now threatening populations in many countries, senior researcher Kei Sato of the University of Tokyo believes “Lambda can be a potential threat to the human society.”

One thing is for sure, however: The lambda variant will continue to give pro-vaccine authorities ammunition against those who prefer bodily sovereignty to partially-tested, “emergency use” vaccines.

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About the Author:
As a lifelong advocate for the dream promised us in the Constitution, Andrew West has spent his years authoring lush prose editorial dirges regarding America's fall from grace and her path back to prosperity. When West isn't railing against the offensive whims of the mainstream media or the ideological cruelty that is so rampant in the US, he spends his time seeking adventurous new food and fermented beverages, with the occasional round of golf peppered in.




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