as the prime minister said, two different things. the first question is is the virus capable of spreading and this one is spreading rapidly in many areas, so for example, in the gauteng area of south africa, up to 90% of the cases that have been reported are, we are told, are of this new variant. so, the spread is clear and it is spreading around the world. it has achieved the first thing, it definitely can spread. the second question is, to what extent is that because it is able to escape immunity from prior infection or vaccination, we do not at this stage no, but what we do know is that there are quite extensive mutations on the spike protein which is an important part of the virus and the reason that is important is that is the bit which all the vaccinations are against and indeed what most natural immunity is against, so there is a reasonable chance that at least there will be some degree of vaccination escape with this variant.