'No one should worry': COVID-19 not evolved enough to beat vaccines, assure scientists

As a new, more severe strain of COVID-19 is causing concerns across the world, scientists have assured that it would take years for the virus to evolve enough to beat the current vaccines. Scientists have said that no one should worry about the virus suddenly turning potent enough to game the current vaccines and antibodies, adding that if it is ever going to happen, it would take multiple years. This comes after the recent detection of a new strain of COVID-19 in the United Kingdom and South Africa amid an ongoing vaccination campaign in several countries. 

Read: UNGA Chief Calls For 'fair And Equal Distribution' Of COVID-19 Vaccines To All Nations

"No one should worry that there is going to be a single catastrophic mutation that suddenly renders all immunity and antibodies useless. It is going to be a process that occurs over the time scale of multiple years and requires the accumulation of multiple viral mutations... It's not going to be like an on-off switch," said Dr. Jesse Bloom, an evolutionary biologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.  

Read: COVID-19: Shipments Of Moderna Vaccine Leave Production Facilities In US

New strain in the UK, South Africa

The United Kingdom last week reported about a new variant of the COVID-19 virus that experts say spreads faster than all previous mutations. Days later South Africa also reported a similar variant in the country, warning that it contains higher viral loads and is equally lethal to young adults. The strain in South Africa has been named '501.V2 Variant' and may be responsible for the ongoing second wave in the country, as per the country's health minister.

Read: Canada PM Says He Will 'absolutely' Take COVID-19 Vaccine Publicly When His Turn Comes

South African Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said that it remains unclear whether the new strain of the virus is causing more deaths than the previous variants identified in the first wave and the severity of the virus also remains in the air. Meanwhile, virologists in the UK have said that it is not clear how the new strain of the virus affects the COVID-19 vaccines and treatment or whether it causes a higher mortality rate. 

Read: New Coronavirus Strain Discovered In South Africa, More Severe Than Previous Variants

(With inputs from ANI)