All viruses – including SARS-CoV-2, evolve over time. A virus with one or more new mutations is referred to as a “variant” of the original virus. When a virus is widely circulating in a population and causing many infections, the likelihood of the virus mutating increases. The COVID-19 vaccines that are currently in development or have been approved are expected to provide at least some protection against new variants because these vaccines elicit a broad immune response involving a range of antibodies and cells.
Therefore, mutations in the virus should not make vaccines completely ineffective. If any of these vaccines prove to be less effective against one or more variants, it will be possible to change the composition of the vaccines to protect against these variants. Checkout the video to know efficacy rates for vaccines with respect to SARS-CoV-2 variants.
