this is deja vu news live from berlin the head of german vaccine maker beyond tax pledges a customized covert protection over shocking in size his company can build a vaccine specifically tailored to the more inspections 1st 1000 in just 6 weeks but he's also upbeat that biotech's existing vaccine works against the new take it virus. meanwhile down traffic that you keep boards remains tara lives as e.u.

states to block british imports they are concerned that they would also be importing the u.k. coronavirus variant. russian opposition leader alexina vali says he knows who newly killed him with poison last august an associate of all these tries to confront the alleged hit man and his detained by police instead. plus christmas in the holy land in the midst of a pandemic no tourists and bethlehem this year but santa is still out to bring some christmas cheer even if it means to doing things gift. i'm sumi so let's go to thank you for joining us german drugmaker biotech says it is highly likely that it's widely approved vaccine will work against the mutated strain. detected in britain but the company said that if needed

a version of the vaccine that specifically targets a new variant could be ready in a matter of weeks now this comes as the international community grows more concerned about the new strain of covert 90 biotech's vaccine is authorized for use in more than $45.00 countries around the world already now by text chief executive said the new strain similarity to the existing one makes him confident in the vaccine. scientifically the likelihood is high that this is to case because even though this new valiant has mouth open with patients or an even percent of this protein is changed that means 99 percent is still the same and we know that our sponsor or the younger sponsors that is induced by all of it see in this case attacking this protein on multiple sites so that the likelihood is high and that the vaccines both go back but we will get to the south into 2 weeks and then we can be sure. all right let's get some insight into what all of this means we have

mohamed moneer with us he's a viral legist at lancaster university in england mohamad good to see you a good to have you back on the program so we just heard the c.e.o. of bio on tech there telling you that he is confident that his vaccine in its existing form can be effective against this new virus strain but he cannot be entirely sure given that information do you think that vaccinations could should still go on. yes absolutely one of the prime reason is that this new variant would not really don't provide the vaccine i think is he is that the mutation that we have seen within the spike that the one that makes the cone chip structure on the surface of the widest those are very few compared to the total length of the protein so the antibody response is already against the entire length of the protein so therefore even one or 2 mutations occurred that's not going to completely made the vaccine ineffective so therefore the vaccines that are approved . don't know.