Coronavirus: A single ‘escape mutant’ shouldn’t render a vaccine useless

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Coronavirus: A single ‘escape mutant’ shouldn’t render a vaccine useless

Several coronavirus variants have emerged in recent weeks that have got scientists worried. The variants, which were first identified in the UK (B117), South Africa (B1351) and Brazil (P1 and P2), have several mutations in the spike protein—the little projections on the surface of the virus that help it latch onto human cells. This protein is the target for all the COVID vaccines currently being rolled out. So will the vaccines protect us from these new variants?

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