Thread by @DeNovo_Fatima

👩🏾‍🔬Response to the most common question I got today:
The new variant has a lot of mutations, what does this mean in terms of epidemiology & vaccines❓

🧬 short answer: to early to tell‼️

🔬Long, more nuanced answer: whilst having too many mutations, some of which are known to
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affect for instance how fast the virus replicates inside our cells or how it interacts with our immune system, it is difficult to say what synergistic effect all those mutations could have when put together, without functional assays coupled with real-world data‼️
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Analogy: some vegetables on their own taste quite meh, some combination of those vegetables put together could make an absolutely awful meal, but sometimes you add in a bunch of other ingredients & you get something that’s tolerable‼️
(Can you tell I don’t like vegetables 🙃)
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All that to say that yes, we must 💯 be vigilant, which is why we have a Coronavirus Variants Rapid Response Network @CoVaRR_Net, but at the moment claims of immune escape, etc. are based on very little evidence. The honest response is we don’t know yet but we will soon 😉
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In the meantime, let’s focus on things we know:
📌vaccines ⬇️ transmission & are an important tool in hampering viral evolution #SayYesToVaccines

📌we have a SERIOUS #VaccineEquity problem ➡️ FIX IT, FOR THE LOVE OF CHEESECAKE PLEASE FIX IT‼️
#GlobalHealth #PeoplesVaccine