THE ARRIVAL OF TWO CORONAVIRUS VACCINES in December allowed the world to breathe a small sigh of relief. But emerging variants of the virus — versions of SARS-COV-2 with slight genetic differences — are unwanted variables in an already precarious time. At least three are confirmed to be circulating, stemming from the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Brazil. An unpublished study also suggests a variant has emerged in California.
There’s a chance the virus may evolve to evade the vaccines we have now, but that’s far from confirmed. There’s good news: Even if it does, scientists say we can tweak our existing vaccines faster than you might think.
In late January, Moderna Inc. and Pfizer released data suggesting those vaccines seem to work just as well against B.1.1.7, the variant first found in the UK (these findings both come from preprint papers that have yet to be peer-reviewed). Meanwhile, on Friday the vaccine development company Novavax announced in a press release its unapproved vaccine is nearly 90 percent effective in treating B.1.1.7.
Data on B.1.351, the variant linked to South Africa, is more worrisome. Data on the other variants, meanwhile, is lacking.
