Researchers tracking the mutation of the novel coronavirus released a report on Thursday indicating that its now-dominant strain may have the potential to spread faster than strains that were more prevalent earlier in the pandemic. Scientists said that the findings, presented in a preliminary report that has not undergone peer review, also suggest that those who have been infected by the dominant coronavirus strain may emerge more vulnerable to reinfection. The Los Angeles Times first reported on the study.
The findings challenge evidence for the slow-moving nature of the virus, an important factor in vaccine development discussed by New York Times writers Jonathan Corum and Carl Zimmer. In an explainer published on the same day that the new findings were posted to bioRXiv, a site being used by researchers to expedite the dissemination of new data about the virus, they wrote “In the future, the coronavirus may pick up some mutations that help it evade our immune systems. But the slow mutation rate of the coronavirus means that these changes will emerge over the course of years.” However, the findings presented in the new report, affiliated with the Los Alamos National Lab, indicate that the now-dominant strain has mutated and spread at a rate that may indeed threaten vaccine development efforts. On her Facebook page, the Times wrote that the lead author of the study, Bette Korber, called the findings “hard news,” but praised the cooperative spirit shared by scientists who are working around the globe to better understand the novel coronavirus.
Sources:
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-05-05/mutant-coronavirus-has-emerged-more-contagious-than-original
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.29.069054v1
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/04/30/science/coronavirus-mutations.html