Thread by @VincentRK

If COVID virus or mutant variants cause asymptomatic/mild infection in vaccinated people or reinfection, think of it as a booster dose of vaccine that protects from severe disease/death.

Best protection from reinfection? Vaccines

Best protection from rise of mutants? Vaccines

Think of why COVID wrecked havoc. Not because we had an epidemic of common cold that swept the world.

It wrecked havoc because it caused almost 1 death per 100 people infected. It put 2-3 people per 100 infected in the ICU. It caused deaths in elderly, young, healthcare workers

It made people have long term consequences even if they recovered.

This seriousness combined with easy transmissibility made it a menace. The ability of asymptomatic people to spread a serious disease to a totally immunologically naive susceptible global population made it COVID

After vaccines or a prior infection the ability of the virus to totally surprise the immune system is gone.

It will be very hard eradicate getting a mild respiratory infection from a corona virus, whether it be SARS CoV-2, variant, or a regular common cold corona virus. But...

We can prevent severe disease and deaths. That’s within our reach. The vaccines we have, developed in record time, are effective. No one can be sure how much. But biology and immunity suggests that they will work and prevent severe disease.

We need to do what we can.

We have only one weapon now to prevent the rise of mutant variants. That is to vaccinate people around the world as quickly as possible.

We cannot control the division and rise of mutant variants in any other way.

Meanwhile companies are developing boosters.

Knowledge about variants and reinfections is good. And we are getting a wealth of such information. This helps scientists decide if any tweaks are needed & to make booster vaccines.

They don’t alter the fundamentals of what we can and must to. And we what’s beyond our control.

*wreaked