BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

The Real Story

Discussion & Talk

Factual: Politics

Global experts and decision makers discuss, debate and analyse a key news story.

The Real Story: Covid mutants: What are the risks?

Factual

Covid variant.jpg

26/03/2021 GMT

Covid mutants: What are the risks?

BBC World Service - The Real Story, Covid mutants: What are the risks?

Could vaccine resistant coronavirus variants push back global recovery?

A year into the Covid crisis, German Chancellor Angela Merkel this week announced her country was facing what amounts to ‘a new pandemic’. “The mutation from Great Britain has taken over,” she warned. “It is clearly more lethal, more contagious, and contagious longer.” Even in countries where attempts to vaccinate the population are continuing at pace, the threat from mutant variants that have shown a greater ability than the original pathogen to evade vaccines is threatening any recovery. The US Centers for Disease Control this week warned that variants now dominate cases in California, and that increased air travel for spring break - combined with a rise in the number of states easing mask and social distancing mandates - may result in another surge. The UK hopes to curb the spread of variants as part of its roadmap to reopening, but in the last week an adviser to Boris Johnson’s government warned that any return to international travel was “unlikely” given the threat new mutations pose. So how long will Covid variants rule our lives and what can be done to curb their influence? Paul Henley is joined by a panel of experts.

BBC World Service

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

Accessibility links

Programme Index

The Real Story

Covid mutants: What are the risks?

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

About BBC World Service