COVID-19 mutates and vaccines falter as the world panics

In the latter part of 2019 the world began to be overcome by the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. The spread of the virus was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization on 11 March 2020.

The effects of the disease produced a panic globally. All hopes came to rest on creating a vaccine. Scientists from all over the world came together to find a remedy for the coronavirus.

What they did not expect was the VOC-202012/01 (Variant of Concern 202012/01), a new variant of SARS CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome) – the strain of coronavirus that caused the 2019 version of the recurrent disease (COVID-19).

Gene substitution

Just as most people began to feel at ease again once a working vaccine for COVID-19 was found, a gene mutation has left the world in a fluster. How lethal can the new variants be? How soon will there be another vaccine which is ready to tackle the new variants? It might be too early to tell.

“What we’re seeing is similar mutations arising in multiple places,” says Adam Lauring, a virologist at the University of Michigan. These mutations serve as catalysts to the variants to evade the human immune system.

According to a WHO publication of 31 December 2020, titled SARS-CoV-2 Variants, the new variant, which has a D614G substitution in the gene encoding the spike protein, emerged in late January or early February 2020. This mutation replaced the former strain identified in China. That strain had the whip hand over the world by June 2020. The new variant contains 23 nucleotide substitutions and it is not phylogenetically related to the old COVID-19. The hows, whats, wheres and when of this variant are unfathomable.

“Preliminary epidemiologic, modelling, phylogenetic and clinical findings suggest that SARS-CoV-2 VOC 202012/01 has increased transmissibility,” WHO announced in SARS-CoV-2 Variants.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in an article dated 2 February 2021 and titled “New COVID-19 Variants”, made it known that scientists are working around the clock to learn and understand:

1. How widely the new variants have spread.
2. How the disease caused by these new variants differs from the disease caused by other variants which are currently circulating.
3. How these variants may affect existing therapies, vaccines and tests.

The article furthers states that public health officials are studying the variants quickly to learn more to control their spread. Officials are yet to understand if the variants:

1. Spread more easily from person to person.
2. Cause milder or more severe disease in people.
3. Can be detected by the viral tests currently available.
4. Respond to medicines being used at present to treat people for COVID-19.
5. Will change the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines.

Hold me closer

Not long after this surprise, 17 genetic changes were noticed in the B.1.1.7 variant from England which unveiled itself in December 2020. One of the noticed mutations, the N501Y, helps the virus bind more tightly to the ACE2 cellular receptor.

B.1.1.7. is unique because it has so many mutations and they all came about suddenly. A paper on the COVID-19 variant by the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG), “Deep mutational scanning of SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain reveals constraints on folding and ACE2 binding”, concluded that there is a realistic possibility that the VOC B.1.1.7 is associated with an increased risk of death, compared to non-VOC viruses.

The group based its conclusions on a study of 2,583 deaths among 1.2 million tested individuals. Three hundred and eighty-four of these deaths were among individuals who suffered S gene target failure (SGTF).

Another new variant has emerged in South Africa, the B.1.351. It has been confirmed after various test-tube experiments that this variant has rendered the Novavax and Johnson & Johnson vaccines far less effective. A preprint study shows that a serum from COVID patients containing antibodies is considerably less effective at neutralising this variant. There is also a worrying mutation in the 20A.EU1, the variant of B.1.177 dominant in Spain until most European travel restrictions were eased. The P.1 and P.2 variants have been detected in Brazil. The P.1 variant has more genetic mutations than the P.2.

Getting better, growing stronger

The noticeable general trend in these variants resisting the vaccines is the E484K mutation, which helps the variants evade antibodies. Researchers say they have observed a significant loss of neutralising activity. Kristian Andersen, a virologist at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, says it is impossible to say whether or not the E484K mutation will make these coronaviruses not only more contagious, but more resistant to vaccines.

It is worth noting that all research states clearly that there is no evidence that the virus has changed its fundamental way of working, which allows it to mutate rapidly. Just as Adam Lauring, a virologist at the University of Michigan, says, some of it is evolution, but a great deal of it is epidemiology. The virus is just getting better at being a virus.

From the very start of the pandemic, millions of people became infected with COVID-19 and millions began to lose their lives. This is still the situation. Countries are suffering economically, as the virus has affected all areas of economic life and human activity. Following the discovery of a vaccine for COVID, there is no new evidence to prove that recipients of the vaccine are not liable to become infected. This is alarming, particularly as the new variants of SARS CoV-2 keep spreading globally.

Preventive measures or safety protocols are key to reducing COVID-19 morbidity and mortality. It is also exceedingly important that we change our usual behaviour. The more people become infected, the greater the chance that a mutation of the virus will occur. This implies that the virus has a smaller chance to mutate when its spread is actively limited. This can be achieved by maintaining COVID safeguards.

Following the preventive measures and guidelines as strictly as possible is particularly important, because the new variants work very differently from the old coronavirus. Current studies show why the guidelines must be followed if one is to be protected from getting a SARS-CoV-2 infection.

There are some reasons why the new variants may cause more problems than the previous ones. These must not be taken lightly because:

1. No symptoms may show and the virus may be transmitted unknowingly.
2. The new variants of COVID-19 have a longer incubation period. This means that the time between getting the virus and developing any symptom is longer than for other coronaviruses. According to the CDC, SARS-CoV-2 has an incubation period of between two and 14 days.
3. The SARS-CoV-2 virus multiplies twice as fast in someone who has COVID-19.
4. Laboratory tests have proved that SARS-CoV-2 can stay alive in the air up to three hours and even longer on hard surfaces.
5. Even you do not develop symptoms you may still have the same viral load in your body as someone who has developed severe symptoms.

Mask up

How can the spread of the new variants be minimised? Well, simply by keenly following all the laid-down guidelines.

1. Wear a face mask to cover your nose and mouth when in public. Masks should be worn in addition to staying at least six feet apart, especially when among people who do not live with you.
2. Keep a distance of at least six feet (ie, two arm’s lengths) from other people.
3. Avoid crowds and poorly ventilated spaces.
4. Wash your hands with soap under running water and or use hand sanitiser frequently.
5. Clean and disinfect all surfaces regularly.
6. Exercise, eat well and monitor your health regularly.
7. Avoid close contact with anyone who shows signs of any respiratory infection.

Taking these preventive strategies seriously is extremely important to stop transmission of the virus. The need to intensify education about the new variants and enforce the preventive measures should be topmost in everyone’s list of priorities.

Let us help ourselves and, in so doing, help minimise the spread of the virus. We must always bear in mind that it is against the virus that we are fighting. And the best way to conquer it is by not exposing ourselves to this disease.

Palgrave Boakye-Danquah

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