Predicting precisely what any virus may do next is next to impossible, but scientists can make an intelligent guess.
The world in which SARS-CoV-2 first emerged at the end of 2019 was different from today's world. The ability of the virus to produce lots of copies of itself and spread between individuals was indeed key to its success early in the pandemic. However, as the number of people immunized through vaccination and naturally acquired infection rises, the virus will experience more pressure to evade immune responses.
Microbes reproduce so rapidly that evolution happens daily. Mutations can help SARS-CoV-2 evade some of the antibodies that the immune system typically directs against the virus receptor. However, very few of the mutations get passed on to new hosts, particularly when only a tiny amount of virus is required to cause an infection. So far, no viral lineage has evolved all three mutations needed for evasion. However, the appearance of such a variant would be a worrying development.
Copyright © 2022 by Eva Deli
