NEW DELHI: Malaysian health authorities have detected a far more infectious mutation of the coronavirus in two COVID-19 clusters in the country. The new coronavirus mutation, which has been found, is believed to be 10 times more infectious. 

Malaysian Health Director-General, Noor Hisham Abdullah, in a Facebook post, said, “Recent results received from the Laboratory Medical Research Institute (IMR): as suspected D614G type mutation has been spotted from COVID-19 virus isolation test for three cases from Cluster PUI Sivagangga (close contact to index case) and also a case from Cluster Ulu Tiram (i.e. individual from the Philippines).” 

The strain could mean that existing studies and vaccines which are under development for Covid-19 may be ineffective to the new mutation. 

Paul Tambyah, senior consultant at the National University of Singapore and president-elect of the U.S.-based International Society of Infectious Diseases, said the D614G mutation has also been found in Singapore.

According to Tambyah, such mutations would not likely change the virus enough to make potential vaccines less effective.

"The mutant affects the binding of the spike protein and not necessarily the recognition of the protein by the immune system, which would be primed by a vaccine," he said.