continues to protect against two of the major mutant strains of SARS-CoV-2 circulating around the world: one that was first identified in the U.K. and one first seen in South Africa .
However, viruses constantly mutate, and eventually, one or a combination of changes could make the virus both more infectious and more deadly. Already, the U.K. strain is at least 50% more adept at spreading from person to person, and the South African strain has mutations in key areas that could help the virus to evade immune cells generated to fight it.
Testing these samples against the live mutant virus from South Africa would confirm that the antibodies formed do indeed neutralize it. Those viral samples have not yet been shipped to the U.S., he says, but Moderna’s collaborators at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases collaborators at NIAID are working on getting those samples for further study.
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