And second, the data we do have on people being infected with B.1.617.2 after receiving the vaccine is — despite claims to the contrary — very reassuring.

Even among the most vulnerable populations, infections are not turning into severe illness or death https://twitter.com/DevanSinha/status/1390388896433942544

This is strongly supportive of the last point about mutations & immune escape:

If (and it remains an if) B.1.617.2 is found to be more transmissible than other variants, it doesn’t look like vaccines will struggle to protect infected people from getting seriously ill.

As @mugecevik told @AnnaSophieGross in our story, "Right now the most important thing is that the vaccines are working against this variant".

And it really is as simple as that until we learn more.

As I’ve been saying, keep *watching*, but don’t keep *worrying*.

Here’s our full story: https://www.ft.com/content/8e134734-c3f0-4694-9bdb-9d03e67dadec

And here’s @PHE_uk’s report today https://www.gov.uk/government/news/confirmed-cases-of-covid-19-variants-identified-in-uk

Final comments:

I’ve deliberately included the "numbers are rising!" charts alongside the caveats about why that is not necessarily reason to worry. I think it’s important to show the raw data, even if there are many reasons to take it with a pinch of salt.

I also want people to realise 2 things can both be true: numbers rising, and the situation not necessarily being scary.

It’s not either or. If someone shows you a scary chart of rising numbers, ask whether it really is scary given what else we know (and hey, perhaps it will be).

I’ll continue to share as much information as I have on B.1.617.2 as the picture becomes clearer.

As ever, feel free to get in touch with questions, comments etc.