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Covid: new vaccines needed globally within a year, say scientists
Survey of experts in relevant fields concludes that new variants could arise in countries with low vaccine coverage
Survey of experts in relevant fields concludes that new variants could arise in countries with low vaccine coverage
The planet could have a year or less before first-generation Covid-19 vaccines are ineffective and modified formulations are needed, according to a survey of epidemiologists, virologists and infectious disease specialists.
Scientists have long stressed that a global vaccination effort is needed to satisfactorily neutralise the threat of Covid-19. This is due to the threat of variations of the virus – some more transmissible, deadly and less susceptible to vaccines – that are emerging and percolating.
The grim forecast of a year or less comes from two-thirds of respondents, according to the People’s Vaccine Alliance, a coalition of organisations including Amnesty International, Oxfam, and UNAIDS, who carried out the survey of 77 scientists from 28 countries. Nearly one-third of the respondents indicated that the time-frame was likely nine months or less.
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The current round of deletion mutant variants have the loss of just a small number of amino acids in the spike protein causes a major change in the 3D structure of this protein & the loss of a significant number of the epitopes that the 'wild type' virus vaccine recognize. This means the vaccines will become increasingly less effective against the current vaccines. Like the annual flu, the shots are mixtures of vaccines raised from different flu virus strains. New vaccines will have to be developed to handle the increasing number of these variants.