Scientists from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory recently spoke to The Washington Post and stated that their findings indicated that COVID-19 wasn’t mutating radically. Molecular geneticist Peter Thielen, said “That’s a relatively small number of mutations for having passed through a large number of people. At this point, the mutation rate of the virus would suggest that the vaccine developed for SARS-CoV-2 would be a single vaccine, rather than a new vaccine every year like the flu vaccine.”
According to the researcher’s results, COVID-19 isn’t mutating a whole bunch, which could mean that a single vaccine such as measles, or chickenpox vaccine could suffice. “I would expect a vaccine for coronavirus would have a similar profile to those vaccines. It’s great news” said Thielen.
The researchers observed 1,000+ strains of the virus and only found that it altered in genetic code around four to ten times. These virus strains were sourced from the origin of the outbreak - Wuhan, China, and the virus strain that has infected United States citizens.
Just goes to show how much fake news is out there about this virus. First we heard how this virus was impossible to stop as it was constantly mutating, quite possibly into more virulent forms. Now we’re hearing that it’s not mutating much at all. Which is it?
Maybe the real news here is no one really knew much of anything about COVID-19, but the media still spun everyone up with a whole lot of conjecture and not many facts. It was mostly just fake news designed to keep people scared and tuned in.
Stable, just like Trump.
Is vaccinating the world the objective of the Coronavirus?
“Coronavirus has ‘stable genome,’ study suggests, so vaccine could help ‘over many years’”
hmmm. that’s not what the legion of ignorant panic trolls have been claiming here ...
I would guess you would design a bioweapon to have that quality.
“...the ability to run quick, multiple samples is important in the scientific community’s fight to stay ahead of the virus. “
Duh.
Where is the CDC/NIH/FDA on quick and widespread testing?
Bupkis.
They should all be FIRED!
One expert says its stable. Another says its not. So its all a bunch of noise.
You can tell Bill Gates to shove his vaccine up where the sun don’t shine!
It’s a coronavirus, nothing like an influenza virus.
Influenza viruses have eight segments of RNA that can be swapped among different influenza viruses. Coronaviruses have a single piece of RNA. This difference alone makes the coronavirus much less likely to mutate than influenza. This means that once it has swept through, it will be possible to vaccinate people and maybe even eliminate it.
“Stable” is a relative term for RNA viruses. It really depends on where they mutate - some, such as the polio virus, are consistent enough through the mutations that they can successfully be addressed by vaccines; others, such as HIV, prove extremely difficult. This one, if the Italians are correct, falls in between, as does the influenza virus, whose vaccines capture only one or a few strains at a time of the many that are out there. That’s why there is a different flu vaccine every year. That may be the case with this particular coronavirus.
And iceland says it mutates fast.