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The UK government has stated that there is no evidence the vaccine will not be effective against this strain. And from the bmj: The new variant has mutations t
by albertgoeswoof 6y ago
The UK government has stated that there is no evidence the vaccine will not be effective against this strain. And from the bmj:
The new variant has mutations to the spike protein that the three leading vaccines are targeting. However, vaccines produce antibodies against many regions in the spike protein, so it’s unlikely that a single change would make the vaccine less effective.
Over time, as more mutations occur, the vaccine may need to be altered. This happens with seasonal flu, which mutates every year, and the vaccine is adjusted accordingly. The SARS-CoV-2 virus doesn’t mutate as quickly as the flu virus, and the vaccines that have so far proved effective in trials are types that can easily be tweaked if necessary.
Peacock said, “With this variant there is no evidence that it will evade the vaccination or a human immune response. But if there is an instance of vaccine failure or reinfection then that case should be treated as high priority for genetic sequencing.”
- tux1968 6y agoThat's not very reassuring, why is the new strain causing any problems at all if it behaves exactly like the existing strain? And if they haven't actually done any trials or testing, then they haven't really looked for any evidence. If they haven't looked for any, it seems rather too convenient to use the lack of evidence as a reason for hope that the current crop of vaccines provides any protection at all.
- spuz 6y ago> why is the new strain causing any problems at all if it behaves exactly like the existing strain? If it's true that the new strain is 70% more transmissible then that means more people will get sick before we can reach immunity thanks to a vaccine, hospitals will be overwhelmed sooner and more people will die.
- pmg102 6y agoIt behaves exactly the same, but faster (is the current working assumption based on limited research so far). So the "problems" it is causing is just that EITHER more stringent restrictions of the same kind are required to contain it OR if uncontained healthcare will be overwhelmed more quickly. So problems of degree not of kind.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]