new variants of coronavirus keep rising? Yes, as long as the virus that causes the pandemic continues to infect people. But that doesn’t mean that new versions will keep coming out regularly, or that they’ll be more dangerous.
With more than half the world still not vaccinated, the virus has the potential to infect people and replicate inside them for many months or years to come. And every time a virus makes a copy of itself, a small mutation can occur. Those changes can help the virus survive, forming new forms.
But that doesn’t mean the virus will continue to evolve in the same way since it emerged in late 2019. When a virus infects a new species, it needs to adapt to the new host to spread more widely, says Andrew Reid, a virus specialist. at Pennsylvania State University.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the delta version is twice as contagious as the older versions of the virus. And while it may still mutate to become more infectious, it probably won’t double its transmission rate again, says Dr. Adam Loring, a virus and infectious disease specialist at the University of Michigan.
We have seen a phase of rapid evolution for the virus. It’s harvesting low-hanging fruit, says Lauring, but it doesn’t have an infinite number of things.
It is possible that the virus may be more lethal, but there is no evolutionary reason for this to be the case. Extremely ill people are also less likely to socialize and spread the virus to others.
Experts are looking to see whether emerging versions may be better at protecting people from vaccinations and infections than they develop. Joshua Schiffer, a virus specialist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, says as more people get the shots, the virus should be able to spread through people who have some immunity to survive.
He says the virus can carry a mutation that makes the immune response less effective.
If this happens, scientists may recommend that vaccine formulas be updated periodically, as are the annual flu shots.
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