jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

We've all heard about the Covid mutation discovered in England. Many people are confusing cause and effect. England has been very diligent about monitoring the Covid virus, and scientists there noticed a mutation. Other countries haven't been keeping on top of it the was England has, so the general reaction is to shoot the messenger and ban travelers from England. In reality, this mutation probably exists in all countries. According to an article in the Washington Post, we probably have the mutation in our own country, and it could very well have originated here.

"Several top infectious-disease experts said Monday the variant may not have originated in the United Kingdom. Instead, it may have been identified there first because the United Kingdom has a robust monitoring system that has examined tens of thousands of genomic sequences of virus samples.
The United States has lagged in sequencing and does not have nearly the same level of virus surveillance." - Washington Post

repleo Loc: Boston

Cold comfort!

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Who knows who knows.

(Most people gonna read that erroneously.)

How about "Who knows who those that know are."

Tomcat5133 Loc: Gladwyne PA

Good information Jerry. Have a great Xmas Tom

fjdarling Loc: Mesa, Arizona, USA

That makes sense. Thanks, Jerry.

allanj Loc: New York City

Seems right. Hard (at least for me) to disagree.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Don't give up so easily!

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

Maybe sort of good news for England. For the USA, it's bad news that it may be here already, and we didn't discover it. So we could have a more contagious version spreading during this surge and no program to identify it.

Scruples Loc: Brooklyn, New York

I hate to be the bearer of bad news. In March the virus began to mutate. This is in part from the use of measures to try to defeat it early. You can thank those people who began an immunity and didn’t wear a mask. The use of Hydroxychloroquine did not help. I had made some rough calculations. The virus may have mutated 4 times since March to now. Given the time frame and it may mutate as many as 16 times getting stronger and more resistant at each turn. I would like to emphasize that the best way to prevent the spread and future mutations is to wear masks, constant washing hands and maintain social distancing. Hopefully the vaccine may curb the spread. We need to consider not just our own health but the health of others.

John N Loc: HP14 3QF Stokenchurch, UK

They (U.K. virus teams) have discovered another variant associated with South Africa. I would suggest many variations exist, unique to particular locations and us travelling between them may be the cause of the spread.

StanMac Loc: Tennessee

I thought America was always first in everything! So much for American exceptionalism . . .

Stan

bamfordr Loc: Campbell CA

A few random thoughts.

There is frequently an element of anthropomorphizing in reports of mutation. A sense of deliberate efforts to attack humanity. As opposed to natural selection favoring variations that prove more successful in surviving. So, I think, any successful vaccine or natural immune response will result in the propagation of new versions of the virus. This seems to be supported by reports of fast-burning viruses that kill their hosts quickly before they encounter any significant natural immunity or man-made vaccine.

Mark Sturtevant Loc: Grand Blanc, MI

I did not know about the possibility of it starting here in the U.S.
What I have on it is that this variety may or may not be more easily spread. The data that it spreads faster is mainly circumstantial. It could be b/c of a super-spreader event that caused a spike in its numbers. We should know more soon, and so yes it is still possible this is more contagious.
Also the mutations in the spike protein probably will not appreciably change the effectiveness of the vaccine. Antibody production against a protein is fairly broad, so this variant should be covered by our immune response from the vaccine. Again, though, we should know more about that soon.

Finally, mutations are effectively random. They are not in themselves 'directed' to making a virus more contagious or more deadly. Then there is selection. Over time, the vaccine could cause selection for random varieties that are able to evade the vaccine. But selection can also direct the virus to be more benign, even. That's how evolution works in the short term. Random variation, then selection by the environment for whatever is good at reproducing.

srg

No. No. You got it all wrong. Everything evil is from China. Or is it Russia. Or was it Germany. All I know is that knowing who is behind it all will solve the whole problem.

Nigel7 Loc: Worcestershire. UK.

The UK team who are tracking Covid through Genome Sequencing have actually identified around 300 mutations but most are very minor and have no real effect. The first serious one had 21 actual changes to the virus 17 of which were significant. The one from South Africa again is significant.
Regarding Genome Sequencing the UK have around 50% of the world's capability. Other major players are South Africa, The Netherlands and Denmark. This is why these countries seem to be ahead of the curve in spotting the mutations. Time for this technology to be developed more worldwide.