The only thing that seems clear from the new variant news - and most of it remains uncertain, tbd - is that we need to be investing massively in vaccine production capacity. Having most of the world unvaxed creates too big a breeding ground for new variants. And that’s setting…
2/ aside entirely the ethical and moral issues involved, which are vast. We need more vaccines produced more quickly. We also need them for ongoing vaccination campaigns. The odds of this new variant dramatically changing vaccine protection seem low. But over time …
3/ it seems basically certain that viral evolution will chip away at vaccine immunity. Updated vaccines can be produced for new variants. That part isn’t that complicated, especially with the mRNA vaccines. But producing 100s of millions and billions of doses and distributing …
4/ them is another story. It does seem like there are few if any scenarios over the coming years where increased vaccine production capacity won’t save tons of lives and keep everyone healthier. The only question is how much it will help.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
