There have been three new variants of COVID that have had a startling impact on the number of cases. They have been detected thousands of miles apart, one in Brazil, one in South Africa, and one in the UK. This came as no surprise to scientists. Since the virus was first detected, it has mutated approximately 4,000 times. However, if the virus keeps mutating, will we ever end the pandemic? In this episode, host Jayne Secker is joined by Sir Mark Walport, previous government chief scientific adviser to explain what we know so far about the new variants and Sky News correspondent, Ashna Hurynag, tells us what the situation is like in the city of Manaus.