The Sars-CoV-2 virus is changing in ways that are making it more transmissible, increasing the severity of disease it causes and allowing it to infect people who should have immunity. These variants are causing concern among global health experts, particularly as there are signs that some vaccines may be less effective against them.
Here are five things to know about the new Covid-19 variants:
- The virus is always changing but occasionally makes an evolutionary leap
- These are variants of SARs-CoV-2, not new strains
- Chronic infection cases and higher levels of population immunity may have enabled the virus to evolve
- Sequencing has played a crucial role in tracking new variants
- Vaccines are already being changed to deal with variants
Read here (Horizon, Mar 29, 2021)
