COVID Vaccines and Viral Mutations

Now that the vaccine is within grasp, many people are asking about the efficacy of the vaccine over time. Can COVID mutate? Will the vaccines in development still work?

We have all heard of antibiotic resistance. The prevalence of antibiotic use drives bacteria to develop mechanisms of survival; the bacteria that develop these mutations survive and then predominate, making the antibiotics wholly ineffective.

This happens far less often with vaccines given that vaccine drives immunity, which has many facets, rather than targeting one part of a bacterium to destroy it as antibiotics do. However, if a vaccine is made to only target one part of the virus and our immune system is built to identify and neutralize the virus based on that one part, it is remotely possible that the virus can adapt to function without that part and become “resistant” to the vaccine. In other words, the virus no longer possesses the one identifying feature used by the antibodies to eradicate the virus.

In the case of COVID, the vaccines have been developed against the spike protein. This means that our immune systems identify the virus by the spike protein and use defenses against the spike protein to neutralize the virus. This means that over time, there is a possibility that the current vaccines developed for COVID may no longer be effective if COVID does mutate in a way that evades our existing immunity.

To ensure this does not lead to disastrous consequences, scientists have discussed using nasal swabs from vaccine trial participants to see if there are any COVID strains present in the samples, and if in those with the vaccine the strains have mutated at all. This data would provide a picture of how quickly the virus mutates and would allow scientists to know what kind of mutations occurred such that a new vaccine could be quickly developed.

Another way around this fate is development of vaccines that target more aspects of COVID than solely the spike protein. If the vaccine allowed our immune systems to be able to identify and target multiple areas of the virus, it would provide a more robust defense against mutations.

Nevertheless, the vaccines developed are huge strides in curbing the pandemic. However, we must continue development and stay vigilant to prevent any COVID mutations from becoming widespread.

Articles for Reference:

Kennedy D and Read A. “Monitor for COVID-19 vaccine resistance evolution during clinical trials.” PLos Biology.

Gorman J and Zimmer C. “The Virus Won’t Stop Evolving When the Vaccine Arrives.” New York Times.