A study done by South African scientists showed that those infected with the COVID-19 501Y.V2 variant develop protection against various variants which are circulating around the world, said Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister Blade Nzimande.

Nzimande made the remarks on Wednesday while announcing the latest scientific results on COVID-19 variant.

He said the 501Y.V2 survivors develop protection against other circulating variants like the one in Brazil, UK and other parts of the world.

"Those who were infected in the second wave, which was dominated by what we have now been referring to as the new variant 501Y.V2, have protection from past and current circulating variants," said Nzimande.

He explained that those infected with the new variants develop antibodies which neutralizes further infections by the same variant or others. The discovery means that the vaccines which would be made for 501Y.V2 are likely to work against multiple variants.

A genomics team, led by the Kwazulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform, detected the 501Y.V2 variant, also known as the South African COVID-19 variant. This variant was reported by the country's health ministry in December 2020.