Vaccinations, variants and lockdowns — when does it all end?

The vaccine rollout will create more ‘new variants’, but we cannot wait to leave lockdown until it has led us to ‘herd immunity’ status. The toll of lockdown is already too great.

The Government has warned that we will remain in ‘lockdown’ until there are no ‘new variants’ of the coronavirus. But the most basic fact of viruses is that they do mutate. Since its emergence, the virus has developed more than 4,000 different versions of its spike protein (which is used to break into host cells), and it is expected — if not guaranteed — that many more ‘new variants’ will arise yet.

Luckily, the proofreading function of the coronavirus (which eliminates replication errors, and so limits genetic variation — that is, mutations) is such that its ‘genome changes very slowly’. But, as is made perfectly clear in an insightful article by Graham Lawton, ‘that doesn’t mean it doesn’t change at all’.

Rather dispiritingly, it is quite likely that more mutations — and mutations which are more medically significant — will occur as more people receive the vaccine. Mr. Lawton explains that, up to date, the virus has faced little interference from a host population with little immunity, but that as more vaccines are administered, the virus will face a greater level of immunity against which to adapt.

‘The big worry is the emergence of ‘escape mutations’ that enable the virus to dodge the immune system or render vaccines or drugs useless. Such an escape becomes even more likely as we begin to exert selection pressure on the virus in the form of vaccines, natural immunity and drugs.’

And so the Government will continue to find new ‘justifications’ for extended national lockdowns, and strict ‘Tier’ restrictions, until ‘lockdown’ itself —and all the bogus statistics which come with it — is questioned.

We cannot wait to leave lockdown until the nation has gained ‘herd immunity’ status as a result of the vaccination programme. This will take too long, and the toll of lockdown on mental and physical health, education, liberty, and, indeed, to our very humanity is already great enough (perhaps even greater than that of the virus itself).

Whilst some protective steps must be taken, we have, most importantly, to learn to live with Covid.