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Vaccines Vs. Variants And How We Protect Oursleves
ConnectHealth
15 Jan 2021, Updated on 04 April 2021
As more variants of COVID-19 pop up the question many of us have is whether the vaccines will work on them. Most mutations are known to affect the spike of the virus, which is something that reduces the effectiveness of the vaccines, since the spike of a virus is what is targeted by a vaccine. Due to this, Biotech companies are testing their vaccines against the new variants. Good news is that companies like Moderna and Pfizer have mRNA technology that allows for quick reprogramming to target new variants. But as these tests are being run, they have found that while the vaccines still have some effect, they appeared to be less effective. Considering this, scientists anticipate a solution similar to the flu, where you would need an annual covid shot, with companies constantly matching their vaccines to the predominant strand and having booster shots to stay safe.
How do we protect ourselves from these variants?
The same measure we have been practicing till now: social distancing, wearing masks, and hygiene, should be amped up. They are even more crucial as the variants continue to become more transmissible. It also helps stop the virus from mutating as it will be harder for them to replicate.
UPDATE:
As the U.S is making great strides by giving out over 3 million vaccine doses daily, the need to battle new variants continues.
Vaccination against these existing variants and coronavirus strands may be accelerating but the threat of dangerous new variants may bring us a few steps back. Saturday marked the first time more than four million cases had been reported, raising the average. The recent destruction of 15 million doses of Johnson and Johnson vaccines at a Baltimore contract plant also sets us further behind.
Furthermore, while new virus cases are far below the January peak, the average number of newly reported cases has risen 19 percent over the past two weeks. Cases are increasing significantly in many states, particularly in the Midwest and the Northeast, as variants spread.
But experts are disagreeing on whether this amounts to a fourth wave of the virus.
The Biden Covid-19 advisory board, predicted that the next two weeks will bring the highest number of cases reported globally since the beginning of the pandemic. While the former head of the Food and Drug Administration under President Trump, who now is on the board of Pfizer, said he did not foresee the fourth wave, these recent mix-ups and situation have left doubt on whether public confidence in the vaccines would reduce. These new waves of the coronavirus have predominantly been seen in younger people who haven’t been vaccinated and also in school-age children, according to the former head of Food and Drug Administrations.
The combat this, the best practice is to use the same precautions when it comes to protecting ourselves, our family, or kids. Along with a new option of keeping ourselves vaccinated.
Citations:
1. Sheryl Gay Stolberg, Apoorva Mandavilli. “Covid-19 Live Updates: Vaccinations Hit Record High While Experts Debate Fourth Wave.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 4 Apr. 2021, www.nytimes.com/live/2021/04/04/world/covid-vaccine-coronavirus-cases.
2. Marisa Iati, Angela Fritz. “What You Need to Know about the Coronavirus Variants.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 9 Feb. 2021, www.washingtonpost.com/health/interactive/2021/01/25/covid-variants/.