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LONDON: The coronavirus that causes COVID-19 is mutating as it spreads around the world during the pandemic, but none of the currently documented mutations appear to be able to spread faster, scientists said Wednesday (Nov.25).
In a study using a global data set of viral genomes of 46,723 people with COVID-19 from 99 countries, researchers identified more than 12,700 mutations or changes in the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
“Fortunately, we found that none of these mutations are causing COVID-19 to spread any faster,” said Lucy van Dorp, a professor at the Genetics Institute at University College London and one of the co-lead researchers on the study.
He added, however: “We must remain vigilant and continue to monitor new mutations, particularly with the introduction of vaccines.”
READ: EU says first COVID-19 vaccinations possible by Christmas
Viruses are known to mutate all the time, and some, such as influenza viruses, change more frequently than others.
Most mutations are neutral, but some can be beneficial or harmful to the virus and some can make vaccines against them less effective. When viruses change in this way, vaccines against them need to be adjusted regularly to ensure they hit the right target.
With the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the first vaccines that demonstrate efficacy against the disease it causes could gain regulatory approval and begin being used to immunize people by the end of the year.
READ: The United States plans to begin COVID-19 vaccinations in early December
Francois Balloux, a UCL professor who also worked on the study, said his results, for now, did not pose a threat to the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine, but warned that the imminent introduction of the vaccines it could put new selective pressures on the virus to mutate into trying to evade the human immune system.
“The news on the vaccine front looks great,” he said. “The virus may acquire vaccine escape mutations in the future, but we are confident that we will be able to report them promptly, which would allow vaccines to be updated in time if needed.”
The mutation study, whose preliminary findings were initially made public in May as a pre-press before being reviewed by other scientists, was published in full Wednesday in the journal Nature Communications.
The research team from UCL UK and the University of Oxford, and from France Cirad and Université de la Réunion, analyzed the virus genomes of 46,723 people with COVID-19 from 99 countries, collected until the end of July 2020.
Of the more than 12,706 mutations identified, about 398 appear to have occurred repeatedly and independently, the researchers said.
Of these, the scientists focused on 185 mutations which they found had occurred at least three times independently during the course of the pandemic.
The researchers found no evidence that any of the common mutations increase the transmissibility of the virus. Instead, they said, the most common mutations are neutral to the virus.
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