(06-06-2021, 06:48 AM)deanhills Wrote: @fChk I disagree. We have a virus that is fighting against herd immunity by developing new variants all of the time.
The new variants arise because only a fraction of the World population is currently immunized either because they have been vaccinated or because they have already contracted the virus and recovered from it. The vast majority (in terms of billions) aren't still. So SARS-CoV-2 is busy generating those variants inside those billions of potential hosts.
Single-strand RNA-based viruses replication is not as high-fidelity as the DNA-based ones, hence why it's prone to errors during that process resulting in a significant mutation rate at each multiplication event which is the basis of the new variants emergence. That process is well known as a process in Molecular Biology and well documented in Virology.
The thing here is that we(/as Human beings) are in a RACE against that SARS-CoV-2. The more we get people vaccinated the less fertile play-ground we leave to the virus to evolve. That's the challenge!
My understanding from the medical reports is that all the major vaccines work to varying degrees against SARS-CoV-2 variants too. Not a perfect/total protection for sure but at least it's there.
What we really need to understand is that this
SARS-CoV-2 has just reached the age of 18 months old as an emergent Human virus and the fact that we've been able to develop a vaccine and are currently in the process of getting it into people's arm is quite an achievement in the Bio-medical sciences.
Of course the vaccines aren't perfect and need to be updated according to the predominant variant(s) in the population concerned. BUT Comparing current SARS-CoV-2 vaccines which have been developed within months from the virus isolation and sequencing (January 2020) and are now distributed during a global pandemic and public health emergencies, under a special
Emergency Use Authorization with the vaccine of centuries-old disease -Measles- that we've only managed to make in its current form back in 1968 after Thomas Peebles isolated it (ie the measles virus or MeV) in 1954!.. I would say that's a bit unfair!.. Don't you think?
Give it time and -may be- we'll sort this one out too!.. Although -on a personal note- I have my own doubts as to the complete eradication of it. I think SARS-CoV-2 is here to stay and evolve!..
Again, folks, please GET VACCINATED!.. Which one ?.. Well, the one that's available to you. My bottom line is this:
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SOME IMMUNITY IS BETTER THAN NO IMMUNITY AT ALL!
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