I’d like to respond to the questions about getting a second vaccine. Not to sound indignant, but I haven’t been able to get one vaccine. People line up for extra doses. Why should an already vaccinated person get a second vaccine? I’m fine with waiting my turn, but it seems unfair that someone could get multiple vaccines while others wait for one.
I can't comment on the relative fairness of the situation. Vaccine is variably available in many different places, and health inequity is a problem around the globe. Here in the US we've long had access to medicines that cost tens of cents, but are unavailable in Africa where the diseases they treat kill thousands of children. I would never say we should get used to these types of inequities, but I will say that this vaccine thing is yet another manifestation of how healthcare is rarely regarded as a human right.
I hope that very soon everyone has complete, fair, and equal access to every vaccine they could want.
Quote from India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's press release: "The analysis of samples from Maharashtra has revealed that compared to December 2020, there has been an increase in the fraction of samples with the E484Q and L452R mutations. Such mutations confer immune escape and increased infectivity. These mutations have been found in about 15-20% of samples and do not match any previously catalogued VOCs. These have been categorized as VOCs but require the same epidemiological and public health response of “increased testing, comprehensive tracking of close contacts, prompt isolation of positive cases & contacts as well as treatment as per National Treatment Protocol” by the States/UTs."
E484K is a well-known antibody escape mutation that is found in many different variants of concern. L452R is one that I have heard about but that I consider less well-characterized. It is predicted to have effects on virus binding to the ACE2 receptor, as well as potential neutralizing antibody escape.
This overall fits with the pattern of certain amino acid changes being favored that may lead to escape of neutralizing antibodies. So far I don't see anything that has compromised vaccine efficacy meaningfully, though, so I'm not concerned about currently-circulating variants. What I am concerned about is their potential descendants. The longer the pandemic burns on, the more likely it is for new variants to emerge that combine various mutations and genuinely compromise vaccine efficacy.
We need to get this pandemic under control as soon as possible.
I’d like to respond to the questions about getting a second vaccine. Not to sound indignant, but I haven’t been able to get one vaccine. People line up for extra doses. Why should an already vaccinated person get a second vaccine? I’m fine with waiting my turn, but it seems unfair that someone could get multiple vaccines while others wait for one.
I can't comment on the relative fairness of the situation. Vaccine is variably available in many different places, and health inequity is a problem around the globe. Here in the US we've long had access to medicines that cost tens of cents, but are unavailable in Africa where the diseases they treat kill thousands of children. I would never say we should get used to these types of inequities, but I will say that this vaccine thing is yet another manifestation of how healthcare is rarely regarded as a human right.
I hope that very soon everyone has complete, fair, and equal access to every vaccine they could want.
Quote from India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's press release: "The analysis of samples from Maharashtra has revealed that compared to December 2020, there has been an increase in the fraction of samples with the E484Q and L452R mutations. Such mutations confer immune escape and increased infectivity. These mutations have been found in about 15-20% of samples and do not match any previously catalogued VOCs. These have been categorized as VOCs but require the same epidemiological and public health response of “increased testing, comprehensive tracking of close contacts, prompt isolation of positive cases & contacts as well as treatment as per National Treatment Protocol” by the States/UTs."
https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1707177
Virologist, please assist: are those known mutations, e. g. from P.1? How concerning is this?
E484K is a well-known antibody escape mutation that is found in many different variants of concern. L452R is one that I have heard about but that I consider less well-characterized. It is predicted to have effects on virus binding to the ACE2 receptor, as well as potential neutralizing antibody escape.
This overall fits with the pattern of certain amino acid changes being favored that may lead to escape of neutralizing antibodies. So far I don't see anything that has compromised vaccine efficacy meaningfully, though, so I'm not concerned about currently-circulating variants. What I am concerned about is their potential descendants. The longer the pandemic burns on, the more likely it is for new variants to emerge that combine various mutations and genuinely compromise vaccine efficacy.
We need to get this pandemic under control as soon as possible.