Well it’s 2021……good riddance to 2020 a horrific year on so many levels. I’m not going to get into that in this post. But what I AM going to look at is the main stream media’s (MSM) almost frantic rush on New Year’s Day to kick off the year with hysteria around a Covid Mutation. For nearly a year Covid has provided MSM with endless fodder to petrify us all. AS IF Covid isn’t frightening enough on it’s own……and forget about any consistent guidance from “the government”.
So…..let’s talk about Covid and it’s mutations. It appears that Covid HAS mutated into a potentially more infectious version. It was first reported in Great Britain and is now being reported in parts of Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Australia, Canada and on Tuesday a report of a case in Colorado in a man with no travel history. The mutation was reported first in mBio a publication of The American Society of Microbiology. A total of 285 mutations have been identified across thousands of infections, though most do not affect disease severity, according to the study.
What exactly happens when a virus mutates? As a virus replicates, its genes undergo random “copying errors” which are the “genetic mutations”. Over time, these genetic copying errors can lead to alterations in the virus’ surface proteins or antigens. Our immune system uses these antigens to recognize and fight the virus. There are DNA and RNA viruses. DNA viruses are more stable than RNA viruses. Covid-19 is an RNA virus. RNA virus mutations are frequent and can have important consequences for the infected person. The common flu virus is also an RNA virus and frequently mutates which is why you need to get a NEW flu vaccine every year. Obviously that is the major concern around the Covid vaccine….will it protect you against the new mutation? These mutations may cause the virus’s outer surface to appear different and the antibodies you produced may not recognize the “new” Covid.
So far it appears that the “mutated” Covid may be more easily spread. BUT it doesn’t appear to be any more LETHAL. An article published in CMMID Repository, a British journal reported the following, updated December 31…yesterday finding: “We estimate that VOC 202012/01 is 56% more transmissible (95% credible interval across three regions 50-74%) than preexisting variants of SARS-CoV-2. We were unable to find clear evidence that VOC 202012/01 results in greater or lesser severity of disease than preexisting variants.” You can read the full article here: https://cmmid.github.io/topics/covid19/uk-novel-variant.html So we are likely to see more cases with the mutated Covid.
What about the vaccine and the mutations? This isn’t the first mutation to occur…..but the MSM would love you to think so! To date, the virus has mutated into seven major strains. There is an excellent article on this here: https://www.biospace.com/article/https-www-nature-com-articles-s41422-020-00430-4/ Scientists believe that the vaccine WILL BE EFFECTIVE against the newest mutation of Covid. In addition to vaccines there is exciting work being done on Polyclonal antibodies that would be given to patients as they did with President Trump when he had Covid. Current research from Great Britain seems to lend evidence to the continuing success of the vaccines Ewan Birney, deputy director general of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory and joint director of its European Bioinformatics Institute in Cambridge had this to say: “the vaccines have been tested with many variants of the virus circulating. So there is every reason to think that the vaccines will still work against this new strain, though obviously that needs to be tested thoroughly.” Well that’s encouraging!…..unless you are a diehard anti-vaxer! Obviously more studies will also be done on this topic in the U.S.
So there you have it. Stay informed and don’t get your “news” from the MSM. They have been all over the place with making us more frantic then we need to be. Please keep a watch on here for frequently updated information on the “roll out” of Covid vaccines. I’ll keep you informed on how folks are doing as they get Dose #2 this week. Hopefully we’ll be able to make a rational decision on getting the vaccine and perhaps a way to prepare and prevent some of the side effects like achiness, fever, and allergic reactions. I WILL be getting the vaccine. I just want to see a little more experience and outcomes with it. Happy New Year and may it be a happier and healthier one than 2020 was!!
