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A new mutation of COVID19 has been discovered in an South African donor. With this mutation, the spike protein changed which might render all existing vaccinations less effective or even ineffective.
Do you have a link, or some sort of corroborating evidence to support this statement
Pulling directly from TFA, > Here we show that this lineage exhibits complete escape from three classes of therapeutically relevant monoclonal antibodies. Furthermore 501Y.V2 shows substantial or complete escape from neutralizing antibodies in COVID-19 convalescent plasma. These data highlight the prospect of reinfection with antigenically distinct variants and may foreshadow reduced efficacy of current spike-based v…
Whether prior exposure helps also depends on T-cell response. At this point it's well established that immunity lasts for some unknown period of time past when most antibodies have left the bloodstream.
"SARS-CoV-2 501Y.V2, a novel lineage of the coronavirus causing COVID-19, contains multiple mutations within two immunodominant domains of the spike protein. Here we show that this lineage exhibits complete escape from three classes of therapeutically relevant monoclonal antibodies. Furthermore 501Y.V2 shows substantial or complete escape from neutralizing antibodies in COVID-19 convalescent plasma. These data highlight the prospect of reinfection with antigenically distinct variants and may foreshadow reduced efficacy of current spike-based vaccines."
2. See also:
* "New coronavirus variants could cause more re-infections, require vaccine updates": https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/01/new-coronavirus-vari...
* "Can we stop a super coronavirus?": https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/can-germany-stop-...
* Tweets by an epidemiologist at Harvard about the new variants found in Manaus, Brazil: https://twitter.com/BillHanage/status/1349943613514526723
3. A key takeaway, for me:
Evolutionary paths for covid-19 that would normally be very unlikely become more and more likely as more people get infected with the virus, providing a large-scale, global playground for experimentation via random mutation. Random evolutionary events that would normally be rare become more and more likely as the numbers grow large enough.
Pulling directly from TFA, > Here we show that this lineage exhibits complete escape from three classes of therapeutically relevant monoclonal antibodies. Furthermore 501Y.V2 shows substantial or complete escape from neutralizing antibodies in COVID-19 convalescent plasma. These data highlight the prospect of reinfection with antigenically distinct variants and may foreshadow reduced efficacy of current spike-based v…
Seems to me this is the perfect scenario to evolve vaccine resistant variants.
Note that 1. The sera they tested this against obtained antibodies through natural infection. It's not clear whether vaccine-induced immunity is protective against this variant. 2. They only tested for neutralizing antibodies, but there is still T-Cell response which could provide protection.
The primary benefit of the vaccine over 'natural' immunity (other than avoiding actual exposure) is the emphasis on neutralizing antibody formation.
To put it into perspective you may only know one person in your friend group which knows one person who dies.
Your friends / family are more likely to die of cancer.
How often do you know someone die of cancer?
It's definitely unfortunate; we should all socially distance & wear N95's where possible. All of us can decide if we want to stay locked down or not. Probably half the population will, so the spread will be much lower than otherwise. The rest of the population can keep working, making money and feeding their children.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It would seem that the horse is already out of the barn. Flights would have needed to be curtailed much earlier. In addition, we're seeing similar mutations popping up independently in geographical areas - seems to be evolutionary pressure in these directions.
Understood, but if we can contain the mutations regionally, it’s better than having them spread globally.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It would seem that the horse is already out of the barn. Flights would have needed to be curtailed much earlier. In addition, we're seeing similar mutations popping up independently in geographical areas - seems to be evolutionary pressure in these directions.
Understood, but if we can contain the mutations regionally, it’s better than having them spread globally.