John Thwaites, Liam Smith, Salim Abdool Karim, Yanis Ben Amor
New COVID variants have changed the game, vaccines will not be enough
At the end of 2020, there was a strong hope that high levels of vaccination would see humanity finally gain the upper hand over SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 COVID-19. In an ideal scenario, the virus would then be contained at very low levels without further societal disruption or significant numbers of deaths.
But since then, new âvariants of concernâ have emerged and spread worldwide, putting current pandemic control efforts, including vaccination, at risk of being derailed.