https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/22/covid-vaccines-what-are-the-implications-of-new-variants-of-virus
UK, South Africa and Brazil variants indicate changes may be needed
In common with others, the virus that causes Covid-19 mutates as it spreads. Most mutations have little or no effect, but some can change the behaviour of the virus. Mutations in a variant found in the UK in September has helped the virus spread more easily and potentially more dangerously. Further changes in variants that emerged in South Africa and Brazil may help the virus resist antibodies induced by vaccines and Covid infections from the first wave.
OPTION 1: ALL VIRUSES CHANGE AS THEY SPREAD AND COVID IS NO WAY DIFFERENT: MUTATIONS HAVE EMERGED.
OPTION 2: COVID 19 WORDLWIDE SPREAD HAS TRIGGERED THE EMERGENCE OF DIFFERENT MUTATIONS (THAT CHANGE THE BEHAVIOR OF THE VIRUS).
OPTION 3: THE COVID PANDEMIA HAS HELPED NEW MUTATIONS TO APPEAR MAKING IT MORE RESILIENT TO VACCINES.
Why would the vaccines be updated?
If scientists spot new variants of coronavirus that are resistant to current vaccines then the vaccines will need to be redesigned to make them effective again. The more people who have immunity, either through vaccination or past infection, the more evolutionary pressure there is on the virus to evolve around that immunity. And when there’s lot of virus around, as there is now, there are more opportunities for resistant variants to emerge.
TO FIGHT THE NEW VARIANTS VIROLOGISTS WILL HAVE TO REFORMULATE THE VACCINES . AS MORE POPULATION GETS INFECTED MORE RESISTANT THE VIRUS BECOMES.
How are vaccines redesigned?
It depends on the vaccine. There are two vaccines being rolled out in the UK at the moment, one from Oxford/AstraZeneca, the other from Pfizer/BioNTech. Both contain genetic instructions for the spike protein which covers the surface of the virus. When the immune system encounters the spike protein it raises an army of antibody and T cells that is then primed to attack the virus should it come along. Updating the vaccine is not hard, at least conceptually: scientists simply replace the genetic code for the old spike protein with the code for the spike protein from the new variant.
The two existing vaccination procedures use mRNA to trigger an immune response ( antibody T cells that fight the virus back). By substituting the genetic code we will be able to defy the mutation .
How long does it take?
The vaccine can be redesigned on a computer within days. What takes more time is the manufacturing, testing and then large-scale production. Small batches of redesigned vaccine could be ready for testing within a month or two of the decision to update the formulation. Shots of the updated vaccine would then be tested in the laboratory to see whether they elicit the right immune response and do not raise any safety concerns. Regulators are in the process of deciding precisely what tests would be needed to make them confident an updated vaccine was safe and effective. It is highly unlikely they will require vaccines to go through a whole new round of clinical trials, just as seasonal flu shots are approved without such trials. As happened first time around, the updated vaccine could go into production while regulators pore over the safety and efficacy data, so that shots can be distributed as soon as the vaccine gets the green light. Though faster than updating flu vaccine, which is still grown in eggs, the whole process would still take months.
THE UPDATING PROCESS WON'T TAKE LONG BUT THE SAFETY AND EFFICACY TESTING, REGULATIONS AS WELL AS PRODUCTION WILL DELAY ITS DISTRIBUTION.
COMPLETE THE SENTENCES WITH THE RIGHT EXPRESSIONS:
1.The House of Representatives shall be _______ _____ members ______ every second year.
2. The purchase of a bulletproof vest is a ______________ expense.
3. FBI has worked _______ in _____ ....to arrest and _______multiple individuals who _________ part in thr destruction.
4. We have _____________ over 160 case files.
5. " The brutality we _____ ______ on the 6th will ____ _____ ________ by the FBI."
6 . The __________ mob has _______ arrested for minor crimes like ___________________.
7. The President _________ storming the Capitol on Antifa people.
8. They _______ ________ your shirts, your hats, and ____________ your flag.
9. The House of Representatives passed a ____________ today asking Pence to _________the President__________ the 25th Amendment.
10. ....even though their own lives ______ _______ by the coup that the President ________instigated.
2. WHO IS DEVELOPING IT?
3. WHAT ARE ITS PRINCIPLES?
4. WHY ARE OPEN SPACES SO IMPORTANT?
5. MENTION SOME OF THE DISTRICTS AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS.
STEP 2
Listen to the video and take notes of the most essential information
NOW READ THE CNN ARTICLE AND WRITE YOUR OWN REFLECTION ABOUT ALL THE INFORMATION YOU HAVE HEARD AND WATCHED . MINIMUM 14O WORDS
Sex discrimination commissioner Kate Jenkins reveals widespread opposition to advancing equality, despite stark evidence progress is needed.
