Maybe I’m just a realist. Like the flu, it will be with us as vaccinating over 7 billion people is nearly impossible and our open southern border is a entry into the country.
Septembers new mutaions:
A NEW Covid variant has several mutations of importance, experts have warned.
Called R1, it has been labelled as a variant worth keeping an eye on, given it has some dangerous features.
Coronavirus particlesCredit: EPA
US health officials said that “although the R.1 variant is not currently identified as a CDC variant of concern or interest, it does have several mutations of importance”.
This includes some that suggest it can escape protection given by vaccines - although they are still the best way to protect against Covid.
American scientist William Haseltine, who was a professor at Harvard Medical School, wrote in Forbes: “The variant contains five mutations previously noted in variants of concern or interest… It also contains many unique mutations.”
Or this one.:
A new coronavirus variant has been discovered and genetics researchers say it carries many of the same hallmarks as other strains, including Alpha, Beta, and Gamma.
© Provided by WCCO Radio Minneapolis Covid-19 variants
The variant is called C.1.2 and has popped up across South Africa and in seven other countries in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific, CNN reported.
At the moment, researchers are not sure whether its constellation of mutations will make it more dangerous. Still, it has been discovered that it carries changes that have given other variants increased transmissibility and the ability to evade the immune system’s response.
Simply having mutations doesn’t mean that it will be more dangerous. Some mutations can weaken a virus, and it’s a combination of changes that affects whether a virus becomes more efficient. One extra mutation could cancel out the effects of another.
But, a team that includes virologist Penny Moore of South Africa’s National Institute of Communicable Diseases says they are keeping an eye on it.
“We are currently assessing the impact of this variant on antibody neutralization following SARS-CoV-2 infection or vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 in South Africa,” they wrote in a report posted online as a preprint.