Britain has moved to restrict travelers from South Africa because of an aggressive new mutation off the virus there, but one of South Africa's top scientists has said that that move is silly.

Africa correspondent Andrew Harding reports now from Johannesburg Live Samples of CO vid 19 handled in a secure South African laboratory.

Scientists here are racing to understand more about a sudden surge of mutations.

The virus has already become farm or infectious.

There are signs it may also have a T least some resistance to current vaccines when we look at the five or one y V two variant.

But South Africa's leading covert expert told me his biggest concern was that the virus is clearly mutating so fast.

We're going to see this occurring much more commonly.

I think that's that's the message and if it's going to occur more commonly, we're gonna have to ensure that our vaccines are able to neutralize them because if they're not, that means we're back to square one right now.

South African hospitals are battling a huge second wave of infections, a wave driven by the new mutations.

But scientists here have criticized today's move by Britain to restrict travelers from South Africa, saying There's no point in singling out countries or even regions.

I signed quite almost like silly.

Yeah, this is trying to block a country because we know how fast these viruses spread and how many place.

So by the time you try to block visitors from one country, it's too late.

That's what the pandemic show.

And there's another key point that South Africa is making today about the rollout of vaccines urging richer nations not to be selfish, not toe hoard supplies.

Because if that happens, then the virus will remain free to keep circulating on mutating um, threatening all of us.

So fundamentally, there's a must taken belief by some countries that they can vaccinate their populations and that they will be safe.

It simply is not true in this world that we live in with this coronavirus.

No one is safe until everyone is safe.

Can the world show that kind of unity?

Here in South Africa, more than 100,000 deaths are now being linked to the pandemic.

A fast mutating virus requires an aggressive and collective global response.