Cause for Concern?

I’m not big on being an alarmist. But something that I haven’t seen discussed in the mainstream media (not that I’m much of news junkie to begin with, the truth be told…) would seem to be something which we should all be cognizant of.

I am no virologist by any stretch of the imagination. But even the average layperson is well aware that as soon as we seemed to be recovering from Covid-19, a mutation of that virus, which is significantly more powerful, became the dominant threat, as far as the coronavirus is concerned. Fortunately, the current vaccines seem to be effective against the new “Delta Variant”, although those who remain unvaccinated, are now being hit with the first wave of this mutant virus, including individuals significantly younger than those over-65, who previously made of the most vulnerable part of the population.

The Delta Variant is now the predominant strain of coronavirus, accounting for around 93 percent of cases in the United States.

As it continues to spread, like all living things, it continues to mutate. Medical experts, like Dr. Nicole Iovine with UF Health, said cases of a Delta Variant plus are beginning to pop up.

“This is all confirmation of what we have been saying all along,” Iovine said. “The virus is not going away, it’s going to continue to mutate, and we have to be very vigilant.”

Iovine said the Delta Variant and the Delta Variant plus are similar, with similar proteins. The Delta plus is essentially a mutation of a mutation. NBC2

Indeed, now, there is at least one more mutation emerging. This one is called the “Beta Variant”:

Beta, also known as 501.V2 or B.1.351, has some significant genetic changes that experts are studying. It was first identified in South Africa.

All viruses, including the one that causes Covid-19, constantly mutate into new versions or variants.

These tiny genetic changes happen as the virus makes new copies of itself to spread and thrive.

Most are inconsequential, and a few can even be harmful to the virus’s survival, but some variants can make the virus more infectious or threatening to the host — humans.

Is it more dangerous?

Some of the changes Beta has undergone involve the virus’s spike protein — the part that gains the virus entry into human cells. It is also the bit that vaccines are designed around, which is why experts are concerned about these particular mutations.

Beta, along with a few other variants of coronavirus, such as Delta and Alpha, have been labelled “variants of concern”. These have some worrying changes experts want to keep a very close eye on.

Beta carries a mutation, called N501Y, which appears to make it more contagious or easy to spread. BBC

Now, for me, the truly disturbing cause for concern is that Dr. Fauci has said that we can expect the pandemic to continue at least another year, if everyone gets vaccinated. Since this is apparently not in the cards, even assuming no more mutations, the current pandemic itself has a long, long way to go.

But new mutations are ongoing and inevitable. The first serious mutation, the Delta Variant, which is now the cause of 93% of the coronavirus infections in this country, appeared just one year after Covid-19 began its rampage. And now, a second mutation has reared its head.

So, the question is: if the pandemic continues for another one, two or more years, just how inevitable is it that a mutation will appear which the current vaccines are powerless against?

Or, that we cannot control in just a few months… or at all?

Isn’t this something we should at least be talking about?