Just as the flu can mutate, so too can coronavirus, and although the virus that causes COVID-19 hasn’t mutated as quickly as the influenza virus tends to, experts say there additional information to note.
Since the virus began in China, it has mutated into other strains detected in the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Brazil respectively
And while they haven’t proven to be any more deadly, some of the variants have been determined to be more contagious, although there appears to be a silver lining to that dark cloud.
Vaccine effective
“The great news is that our vaccine is going to get it done with all of these variants,” said Dr. Thomas Russo, an infectious disease specialist the Jacobs School of Medicine at the University at Buffalo.
However, Dr. Russo notes that until you can get vaccinated, you may not have much immunity against one of the new strains, or any that might others that might pop up.
According to Dr. Russo, this may be true even if you have already been exposed to COVID-19, as the pandemic that swept through this country was actually a variant of the one that first began in China.
Doctor recommends getting the shot
“The protective response that develops from natural infection is not going be optimal if these variants continue to spread,” Dr. Russo said. "So that’s why it is so critical that we get everyone vaccinated, because the protection afforded by vaccines is going to get it done, but the protection afforded by natural immunity may not, or certainly won’t, get it done as well.”
It is also largely unknown at this time how long a vaccination might protect someone from COVID-19, or if booster shots will be needed.
It is also unknown whether annual shots to guard against COVID-19 will become a yearly ritual for some, much like the flu shot.
Dr. Russo says that will only be known over time, once it can be determined whether COVID-19 becomes highly mutable, like influenza, or if it tends – like other viruses such as mumps and measles – not to mutate much, which is the reason vaccines against those maladies have been able to protect generations of Americans without alteration.