The UK's New COVID-19 Strain Could 'Evolve To Avoid The Vaccine' If We Wait Too Long
As Canada takes swift action to curb transmission of the U.K.'s new COVID-19 strain, an expert tells Narcity that time is of the essence when it comes to vaccinations.
Dr. Colin Furness, assistant professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, says that "if we wait long enough, it becomes increasingly likely that the virus will evolve to avoid the vaccine."
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The sooner that the population is vaccinated, the less opportunity COVID will have to mutate its way around the vaccine.
Dr. Furness
Referring to the virus' spike proteins that latch onto a person's cell receptors, he explained, "The vaccine targets the spike, and the spike is something that can mutate freely."
However, Dr. Furness says that not enough is known about this particular variant to make any definitive conclusions.
"It may result in lower efficacy, it may have no effect, or it may resist the vaccine completely."
"I don’t think we need to panic about this," he added. "All viruses mutate, and this one is very slow at mutating compared to many."
Ultimately, Dr. Furness says that "the sooner we have a vaccinated population the less opportunity the virus has to evolve."
Despite the 72-hour flight ban, University of Toronto professor Dr. Kerry Bowman says it's possible that the strain has already made its way from the U.K. to Canada.