Virus Variant

The discovery that 20% of Covid-19 infections in Norfolk (and it has spread elsewhere in the UK) are a new variant should hardly surprise (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/15/uk-should-boost-vaccine-programme-to-tackle-covid-variant-says-leading-scientist). The more times the virus can replicate (and it does this very quickly) in the cells of any host animal, the more chance it has to mutate into new strains. There is no evidence, thus far, that the variant is more or less dangerous or that it will be resistant to any of the vaccines currently developed to treat the pandemic. The possibility exists, however, that it spreads more easily within human populations and/or it may, to some extent, evade the body's immune defenses. People who have had an infection with the original strain might also not be protected for as long as they would be normally, when exposed to a variant (they may consequently be more likely to get a second infection). If we don't want Sars-CoV-2 to be presenting us, on a regular basis, with new strains (like seasonal influenza), it has to be largely eliminated. If it persists in humans or animals, we might never be free of it and be constantly having to come up with new vaccines. It is with some trepidation then, that I read the poorest countries may not get any vaccines until 2024!