More COVID variants are appearing
- SARS-COV-2 appeared to be mutating in many different regions around the world. They are believed to have appeared independently. However, it seems that they have mutated to the similar direction. It might not be a coincidence.
- Many mutants are indeed more transmissible than its original version, some even outcompeted the existing variant and become more lethal. They either evolved to better bind to the cell’s receptor, or to better evade human’s immune system, the antibodies, specifically.
- Some vaccines show less effectiveness on the variants than on the original virus. Scientists suggest that, for a specific vaccine, although the efficacy drop a little bit, but it still works. “We might need to retool these vaccines as we did for the flu”, one scientist said.
- One of the main reasons for this many mutations is the worldwide pandemic. It provides a huge base for the virus to reinvent itself. “Several variants are the evolution, but most of them are epidemiology”, Lauring says. Overall, “the virus is getting better at being a virus”.
- Ref: The Most Worrying Mutations in Five Emerging Coronavirus Variants