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Chris Smith
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- Danish authorities announced plans to slaughter some 17 million minks after discovering a new coronavirus virus mutation that might endanger existing vaccine work.
- The government announced that 12 people got the new coronavirus strain from the mink population. The patients had an “impaired reaction to antibodies,” indicating that existing vaccines might not work.
- “This is extremely serious, and a threat to the entire world,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said about the novel coronavirus strain.
SARS-CoV-2, the pathogen that causes COVID-19, behaves just like other viruses fighting for survival. It mutates over time, responding to the challenges it faces. A mutation allowed the virus to jump to humans, and then the virus continued to go through genetic changes. We have known for months that D614G is the most important mutation that scientists observed. Teams of geneticists around the world track the genome changes of the coronavirus, as mutations can alter the clinical course of COVID-19, but also impact vaccine research.
The D614G mutation is more infectious than the original Wuhan strain, but that doesn’t make it more deadly. The virus is just more efficient at binding to the ACE2 receptors than before. The D614G mutation dominated Europe and America in the first wave of the pandemic and then made its way across the world. But the mutation has not affected vaccine research. In fact, the volunteers who have received various vaccine candidates so far are more likely to be exposed to D614G than any other strain, as the mutation was spreading in the community by the time the first vaccine trials had started.
Like any other virus, the novel coronavirus will not stop mutating. Public health officials from Denmark have just announced what might be the worst coronavirus development of the pandemic. The vaccine suffered a new mutation that might directly impact the current vaccines, and officials are scrambling to contain the new strain. Also notable is the host that allowed the virus to mutate: An animal.
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This might be the worst coronavirus development of the pandemic so far originally appeared on BGR.com on Wed, 4 Nov 2020 at 21:20:52 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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