Short🧵 On mutant strains emerging:
It’s a new virus - not in an optimal state upon “birth” as it leaped into humans.
Has so much room to grow and ‘learn’
Increases in transmission rates and evasion of immunity should be expected.
We can anticipate and act accordingly.
1/x
It’s a new virus - not in an optimal state upon “birth” as it leaped into humans.
Has so much room to grow and ‘learn’
Increases in transmission rates and evasion of immunity should be expected.
We can anticipate and act accordingly.
1/x
We can start now to think through new vaccine designs that are not all narrow number of epitopes (in this case single [important] protein) and essentially identical to each other.
We can start “future proofing” our vaccine design choices to reduce immense risk of escape.
2/x
We can start “future proofing” our vaccine design choices to reduce immense risk of escape.
2/x
We can also immediately start building an Arsenal of contingency plans.
Tools that will not be susceptible to the same risk of mutants escaping immunity that arise from the ecological pressures from vaccines and infections....
3/x
Tools that will not be susceptible to the same risk of mutants escaping immunity that arise from the ecological pressures from vaccines and infections....
3/x
Perhaps the most important contingency plan tool the world can build is something to give people knowledge of their infection status, in real time, and empower the public to take a deep role in stopping this public health problem.
Rapid at-home tests can do this.
4/x
Rapid at-home tests can do this.
4/x
Rapid home tests (to be used privately) are being built and new innovations are forthcoming at fast pace to accelerate their accessibility.
Should our vaccine efforts go sideways (I hope not, but we should plan for it given what’s on the line), home tests will be crucial.
5/5
Should our vaccine efforts go sideways (I hope not, but we should plan for it given what’s on the line), home tests will be crucial.
5/5
Here’s at least one iteration of how this can work.
https://twitter.com/michaelmina_lab/status/1328873625894719489
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