Covid-19 can be easily tweaked to adjust to new strains, explains NICD prof 22 January 2021 6:12 PM Share This: John Maytham speaks to Professor Lynn Morris, principal medical scientist and head of HIV Virology at the NICD. New research has shown that vaccines may not be as effective against the mutated strain of Covid-19 found in South Africa. Penny Moore, a researcher at South Africa's National Institute for Communicable Diseases and co-author of the study says data suggests the variant could partially evade the defences vaccines build in our bodies' immune systems. That may mean existing vaccines won't provide as much protection to people, and that those who have had the original virus could be reinfected with the new strain.