The other mutation - a H69/V70 deletion, in which a small part of the spike is removed
has emerged several times before, including famously in infected mink.
Work by Prof Ravi Gupta at the University of Cambridge has suggested this mutation increases infectivity
two-fold in lab experiments.
Studies by the same group suggest the deletion makes antibodies from the blood of survivors
less effective at attacking the virus.
"It is rapidly increasing,
that's what's worried government, we are worried, most scientists are worried."
Well the Population has been irresponsible :
SO, take that LOCKDOWN !
This is getting scarier by the Mutations ~
and if the virus genetic code change it will be immune to the Vaccine !
But as it becomes more difficult for the pathogen to survive
— because of vaccinations and growing immunity in human populations —
researchers also expect the virus to gain useful mutations enabling it to spread more easily
or to escape detection by the immune system.
Will the vaccines work against the new variant?
Almost certainly yes, or at least for now.
All three leading vaccines develop an immune response against the existing spike
which is why the question comes up.
Vaccines train the immune system to attack several different parts of the virus,
so even though part of the spike has mutated,
the vaccines should still work.
The good news is that the technology used in the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines
is much easier to adjust and update than conventional vaccines.
The new vaccines also generate a massive immune response, so the coronavirus may need many mutations
over years before the vaccines must be tweaked
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other government agencies should set up a national system
to link viral sequence databases with on-the-ground data
— like whether an infection occurred despite vaccination.
This variant is just the latest to show the virus is continuing to adapt as it infects more and more of us.[sup][/sup]