Scientists have identified an “escape mutant” that may decrease the effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccines.
The mutation, called E484K, has been found in a variant of the coronavirus first detected in South Africa two months ago. This variant has now spread to 12 other countries.
Penny Moore, an associate professor at the National Institute of Communicable Diseases of South Africa, described the mutation as alarming.
“We fear this mutation could have an impact, and what we don’t know is the extent of the impact,” he said.
E484K is called an “escape mutant” because it has been shown that it could escape some antibodies produced by the vaccine.
“I am concerned,” said Alex Sigal, a virologist at the Africa Health Research Institute.
Sigal, Moore, and other scientists studying the E484K mutation have yet to complete their work in the lab to see if the vaccine is less effective against this new variant.
From what they’ve seen so far, they say they highly doubt that E484K will make coronavirus vaccines useless. Rather, they think that there is a possibility that the mutation, alone or in combination with other mutations, may decrease the effectiveness of the vaccine against the variant.
They are also concerned that E484K is an indication that the new coronavirus is demonstrating its ability to change before our eyes. If this mutation occurred within a matter of months, other problematic mutations could follow.
“This virus may be taking the first steps on a fairly long road to vaccine resistance,” said Andrew Ward, a structural virologist at Scripps Research in La Jolla, California.
“It’s the beginning of a long journey,” Moore said. “That’s what really shook me. It’s an alarm clock call.”
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