Scientists believe the spread of Covid-19 variants is not an immediate problem but it’s time already for next-gen preventives to tackle them. The comment comes at a time when countries fine-tune their vaccine dissemination programmes and the race to put more vaccines in the market gathers pace. Experts based on the prediction of course of infection in future suggest work on vaccines will have to continue on parallel tracks, one to tackle the SARS-CoV-2 virus with first generation vaccines and the other to prepare for possible mutations and new variants.
Immunologist Satyajit Rath, in response to the concerns on the effectiveness of current vaccines in the face of emerging variants said vaccine-resistant virus variants are either not present or not spreading in sufficient scales and rates to be an immediate problem. The present vaccination campaign will indeed contribute to slowing the pandemic, next-generation vaccines to deal with the “most vaccine-resistant of the emerging variant viruses will need to be developed from now even as we begin to vaccinate communities with the first-generation vaccines”, told the scientist from New Delhi’s National Institute of Immunology.
A recent study by research team including those from The Rockefeller University in the US, foretells that mRNA vaccines for Covid-19 may need to be updated periodically to avoid potential loss of clinical efficacy against the newly arising variants. “A single new mutation in the currently prevalent virus is unlikely to be sufficient,” told immunologist Vineeta Bal from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research in Pune. She added, in the long run, vaccines may provide lesser protection due to evolution of the virus. She added more than vaccines, monoclonal therapy will give better benefit.
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