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Yes the delta variant may have originated prior to widespread vaccination, but the dominance of the delta variant (and other VOCs) did coincide with mass vaccin
by criticaltinker 5y ago
Yes the delta variant may have originated prior to widespread vaccination, but the dominance of the delta variant (and other VOCs) did coincide with mass vaccination campaigns.
Please see the first source I cited if you're interested in these ideas and want to hear more straight from the experts:
> "The spike protein receptor-binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2 is the molecular target for many vaccines and antibody-based prophylactics aimed at bringing COVID-19 under control." [1]
> "Such a narrow molecular focus raises the specter of viral immune evasion as a potential failure mode for these biomedical interventions. With the emergence of new strains of SARS-CoV-2 with altered transmissibility and immune evasion potential, a critical question is this: how easily can the virus escape neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) targeting the spike RBD?" [1]
> "Our modeling suggests that SARS-CoV-2 mutants with one or two mildly deleterious mutations are expected to exist in high numbers due to neutral genetic variation, and consequently resistance to vaccines or other prophylactics that rely on one or two antibodies for protection can develop quickly -and repeatedly- under positive selection." [1]
> "The speed at which nAb resistance develops in the population increases substantially as the number of infected individuals increases, suggesting that complementary strategies to prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmission that exert specific pressure on other proteins (e.g., antiviral prophylactics) or that do not exert a specific selective pressure on the virus (e.g., high-efficiency air filtration, masking, ultraviolet air purification) are key to reducing the risk of immune escape" [1]
> "Strategies for viral elimination should therefore be diversified across molecular targets and therapeutic modalities" [1]
- maxerickson 5y agoIt would have spread even faster without vaccination (it is considerably more infectious than other prevalent variants).
- criticaltinker 5y agoTo be clear, the primary suggestion put forth by my original comment is: Strategies for viral elimination should therefore be diversified across molecular targets and therapeutic modalities Put another way: vaccines are a powerful and useful tool that can help us mitigate the pandemic, but if used indiscriminately they may actually work against us, so we need to proceed with caution and also use other tools where possible.
- maxerickson 5y agoI don't know how you'd adjudicate it, but I'd bet quite a lot that indiscriminate use of a (tested, safe) vaccine is pretty much always going to be better than not using it. There's of course no reason to stop at indiscriminate use of it, we should employ whatever vaccine strategy seems to be best (in an empirical sense), and supplement with other measures, I'm going at the banality of the point.
- rsfern 5y agoI agree with the general point that diversifying our vaccine targets is important for robust immunity, but you are sort of coming close to advocating that we not use the particular somewhat limited vaccine tech we have at our disposal now. The best strategy against escape variants available to us right now is to reduce transmission rates (especially to immunocompromised people) as much as possible with high vaccination rates. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(21)00202-4/fulltext https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3...
- criticaltinker 5y agoThe core point of the OP article - and the data coming out of Israel - is that mass vaccination alone is less effective than expected at preventing the surge of transmission and infection by variants of concern. The article you cited is in agreement with the literature I previously cited - as more people are infected the virus has more opportunity to mutate. > The best strategy against escape variants available to us right now is to reduce transmission rates ... as much as possible with high vaccination rates Your comment contradicts the mounting evidence we have available to us. Yes we need to use the vaccine tech we have at our disposal now - but in a highly targeted way, and supplemented by other viral elimination strategies that do not exert specific selective pressure on the virus.