Reuters
South Africa and the UK are probably the two countries globally that have methodically sequenced the largest number of SARS-CoV-2 viruses isolated from patients, writes
Felicity Burt, Dominque Goedhals, and
Sabeehah Vawda.
As we optimistically embarked on a new year with hopes of seeing an end to the global pandemic, masks, and social restrictions, our news channels were consumed with stories about virus variants and vaccine rollouts. What do these variants mean and will the vaccines protect against the changes that have emerged in the virus and save us from the new normal?
The news of a "mutated" virus most likely conjures movie-like images of an invisible, indestructible enemy causing massive disruption. The reality is fortunately much less dramatic, as these changes are actually expected.