How COVID-19 mutation rate provides hope for vaccines
Dr. Janette Nesheiwat discusses the mutation rate of COVID-19 virus and how that impacts vaccine development
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While there is no proven treatment for the coronavirus, Dr. Jeanette Nesheiwat said that after scientists examined the genetic code of the virus, they discovered evidence that it does not mutate in the same manner as influenza, giving hope that it would require only one vaccine.
“This current COVID-19, it’s not changing in such a manner that we have to have a new vaccine every year. The vaccine that they’re currently working on now, in which the trials have already started, the first scoop of patients already received their first dose. They’re going to receive their second dose on day 28,” the Fox News contributor told “America’s Newsroom.”
Nesheiwat said that the trials will prove to scientists whether t it is “successful” and “effective” and would alleviate the worry that the vaccine will fail.
“It’s very reassuring, it does give us hope in addition to the current medications that are under trial,” Nesheiwat said.
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Nesheiwat's comments came after researchers in Italy suggested in a study that the COVID-19 disease is slow to mutate, based on its genetic material.
This finding could aid in helping large swaths of people over an extended period of time once a specific cure is found.
The study, which was produced by two independent teams in the country, used "a new next-generation sequencing (NGS) research assay" from Thermo Fisher Scientific on Italian COVID-19 patients. The experts then compared them to a sample from the original outbreak to come up with their findings.
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"Had we investigated other viruses we might have expected up to dozens of new mutations after so many infectious cycles in patients," professor Stefano Menzo, head of Virology at Ancona University Hospital, said in a statement. "Our initial data show that this is a very stable RNA virus, with only five novel variants. A virus with a stable genome is good news for vaccine development because it indicates that the effectiveness of vaccines could be more consistent, possibly over many years."
White House coronavirus task force member Anthony S. Fauci has said "it will take at least a year to a year in a half to have a vaccine we can use."
Fox News’ Chris Ciaccia contributed to this report.
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