Corona mutations: What makes "escape mutants" so dangerous

Coronavirus mutations are of great concern to politicians and pharmaceutical companies.

What the changes mean in the fight against the pandemic and why they are so dangerous.

• The

  vaccination campaign

  against

  Corona

  in

  Germany

  has started

• Increasing

  immunity

  forces the

  coronavirus

  * to change in the form of

  mutation.

• Experts warn of the increasing number of so-called

  "escape mutants"

  .

Frankfurt -

Vaccinations

are considered the

greatest hope

in the fight against

Corona

.

As a result, there was a spirit of optimism when the vaccination campaign started in Germany at the end of December 2020.

In the meantime, more than two million Germans have received the first dose of the vaccine against the

coronavirus

.

But scientists warn: Because increasing immunity in the population is forcing the virus to change, reports the "Spiegel".

In the form of

mutations

.

The further the vaccination campaign progresses, the higher the number of corona mutations could become.

So far, the

mutants

from Great Britain, South Africa and Brazil have been the main

cause for

concern.

Corona: spike protein as the key to all mutations

If the

coronavirus

changes

, the spike proteins are the key.

A slight change in the shape of this "spike" in the form of a mutation can have enormous effects on the lives and health of millions of people, reports Der Spiegel.

Especially when the majority of

vaccines

* are based on the protein of the original virus.

The spike protein helps the

coronavirus

to get into the human - or animal - organism and ultimately into the cells.

Mutations

can increase this effect.

Accordingly, the likelihood of infection with

corona increases

.

In addition, the "spike" is the main feature that the human immune system reacts to after being infected with the virus.

Any mutations can make this indicator unrecognizable and thus make the immune defense much more difficult.

country	Number of vaccination doses administered per 1000 inhabitants
Israel	601.4
Gibraltar	456.8
United Arab Emirates (UAE)	360.4
Great Britain	155.0
Germany	34.2
	Source: Robert Koch Institute (RKI)

Corona research warns of "escape mutants": vaccines still effective?

When it comes to this type of virus mutation, researchers speak of so-called “escape mutants”.

These have, so to speak, acquired the ability to bypass the protective mechanisms of the human immune system.

The science magazine "Nature" reports on a number of studies that are currently dealing with the subject.

+

Experts from research and politics warn of so-called "flight mutants" of the coronavirus.

(Symbol image)

© James Arthur Gekiere / dpa

Accordingly, the various mutations of the

coronavirus have

quickly become the greatest concern of politics, research and the pharmaceutical industry.

All of them are concerned with the question of whether the vaccines from the various manufacturers also promise success against the corona mutants.

And whether different mutants of

Corona can

possibly also infect an already vaccinated or recovered person.

The

SPD member of

the Bundestag

and health expert,

Karl Lauterbach

*, also told tagesschau.de: “The virus could then also spread among people who have already been vaccinated and also among people who have already been through the disease.

That is clearly the greater danger. "

Tests with blood plasma show: Coronavirus mutant from South Africa questionable

As the "Spiegel" reports, research teams from the vaccine manufacturers are currently using the blood plasma of

people who have

already been

vaccinated

against

corona

or who have recovered from an illness to find out whether the antibodies thus formed also fight the mutations and render them harmless.

In the case of the British Corona variant, it should therefore not be a "flight mutant".

The effectiveness of the

vaccines

*

is therefore not impaired.

Only the risk of a more rapid spread is

to be feared

from this type of

coronavirus

.

There are therefore greater concerns with the mutant that was found in South Africa.

The first manufacturers are now reporting that the effectiveness of their vaccine against the South African variant of

the corona

virus is

at least significantly lower than with the original form of corona.

The vaccine is not ineffective.

According to Spiegel, this is the result of the blood plasma tests.

Vaccines with low effectiveness against Corona mutant from South Africa?

Figures from the two US vaccine manufacturers Johnson & Johnson and Novavax also suggest

that the

vaccines

against the South African variant of the

coronavirus are

less effective.

Both carried out parts of their approval studies in South Africa, where the

coronavirus variant B. 1.1.7 is

now

predominant.

While the vaccine from Johnson & Johnson achieved

an effectiveness of 72 percent

in the tests in the

USA

, it was significantly lower in South Africa at 57 percent.

In the case of Novavax, the effectiveness study in Great Britain found 90 percent, in South Africa only 60 percent.

Until mutations of the

coronavirus

, as they have so far mainly occurred in South Africa, Great Britain and Brazil, can also cause great damage in Germany, the manufacturers of the vaccines want to be prepared.

To this end, the pharmaceutical companies are already working on ways to adapt the existing vaccines to the virus variants.

Similar to vaccinations against

seasonal flu

.

Corona mutations are more contagious and are likely to prevail: What does that mean for politics?

Because: As

quoted

by tagesschau.de Albert Bourla, the chairman of

Biontech / Pfizer

*, in this context, it is "very likely" that a mutation will at some point render the original vaccine ineffective.

Since the virus mutants are considered to be significantly more contagious and are likely to prevail,

Karl Lauterbach

advocates

further containment measures in such a scenario: "Politically, that would mean that we would have to think about where we can re-sharpen," he told tagesschau. de.

(Yannick Wenig)

* fr.de is part of the nationwide Ippen digital network.

List of rubric lists: © James Arthur Gekiere / dpa