Zhang wrote that it will take the world around two weeks to see whether the new variant will pose threat to the vulnerable immunity of population that has taken shape in some societies initially.

He also explained why some countries, such as the United Kingdom and Israel, have tightened up pandemic prevention restrictions on inbound travelers.

"Over 80 percent of the citizens in those two countries have been fully vaccinated. If the new variant is able to break through the immune barriers there, the world may have to change its COVID-19 vaccination mechanism – adjusting it to something like the influenza vaccination, which requires researchers to device a new vaccine according to the virus' mutation each year," he wrote.