Disease experts warn Covid mutants could render vaccines useless within a year – World News

Most disease experts believe the rise of Covid mutants will render vaccines useless in less than a year.

The stark warning came from a survey of 77 epidemiologists from 28 countries conducted by the Popular Alliance for Vaccines.

Two-thirds of experts believed the current batch of hits in millions of guns in the UK would become redundant in 12 months or less.

Indeed, the coronavirus would have mutated to the point that new or modified vaccines would be necessary to keep pace.

Of those polled, almost a third indicated an even shorter period of nine months or less.

Less than one in eight said they believed mutations would never make current vaccines ineffective, according to research published by Oxfam.

The overwhelming majority – 88% – said that persistent low vaccination coverage in many countries would increase the likelihood of the development of vaccine-resistant mutations.

Devi Sridhar, professor of global public health at the University of Edinburgh, said: “The more the virus circulates, the more likely it is that mutations and variants will emerge, which could make our current vaccines ineffective.

“At the same time, poor countries are being left behind without vaccines and basic medical supplies like oxygen.

“As we’ve learned, viruses don’t care about borders. We need to immunize as many people as possible, all over the world, as quickly as possible. Why wait and watch instead of getting ahead? ”

Gregg Gonsalves, associate professor of epidemiology at Yale University, added: “With millions of people around the world infected with this virus, new mutations are occurring every day.

“Sometimes they find a niche that makes them better suited than their predecessors.

“These lucky variants could more efficiently transmit and potentially evade immune responses to previous strains.

“Unless we vaccinate the world, we are leaving the playing field open to more and more mutations, which could produce variants that could escape our current vaccines and require booster shots to cope.

“We all have a personal interest in ensuring that everyone in the world, regardless of where they live, has access to COVID-19 vaccines. The virus doesn’t respect borders, and new variants somewhere on the planet mean none of us are safe. “

The vaccine’s rollout in the UK, which has reached more than 30 million adults, will focus on second doses in April after a severe blow to expected supplies.

Thousands of people under the age of 50 are now called upon to receive Covid vaccines, as the households of those with weakened immune systems must be prioritized for vaccines.

The recommendation of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI), accepted by the government, means that some children under 50 who need to have their first doses delayed at least in May will now be able to access injections.

Adults under 50 will still receive a first dose by July 31, the government says.

Meanwhile, Boris Johnson announced on Monday that 60 million doses of a new Novavax vaccine would be manufactured in the UK.