Scientists have found that COVID-19 variants are evolving.
These variants are more infectious and better at escaping antibodies.
COVID-19 will be more like smoking than the flu
How do we know?
A study analyzed 1.5 million COVID-19 cases. They found that there are more than 680 unique mutations.
Researchers “found that mutations to strengthen infectivity are the driving force for viral evolution, whereas in highly vaccinated populations, mutations that allow the virus to escape vaccines become dominant.”
Another study looked at the infectivity and antibody resistance of the Omicron variant. They found that Omicron is more than ten times more infectious than the original virus. Omicron is 2.8 times more infectious than the Delta variant.
It was also found that Omicron is 14 times more likely than Delta to escape current vaccines.
Lab experiments in Japan have found that Omicron’s subvariant, BA.2, is causing severe COVID-19 symptoms. This is a sign that variants are becoming more likely to evade vaccines
NYS extends authority to create COVID-19 regulations
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