The leading scientist behind the AstraZeneca vaccine expects Covid-19 to recede into the same category as other coronaviruses and cause symptoms no worse than a common cold.
Dame Sarah Gilbert was speaking at a webinar hosted by the Royal Society of Medicine on Wednesday and said there was not an enormous amount of concern about future variants of the virus.
The virologist said the spike protein targeted by vaccines was limited in its ability to mutate to avoid immunity that could potentially make vaccines less effective.
“There aren’t very many places for the viruses to go to have something that will evade immunity but still be a really infective virus,” she said.
“I don’t think there’s an enormous amount of concern that we’re suddenly going to see a switch to something that evades existing immunity.
“What tends to happen over time is there’s just a slow drift, that’s what happens with flu viruses.”
For the virus to completely mutate, its spike protein must interact with the receptor on the surface of the human cell so it can get inside.
If the virus changes its spike protein too much it is unable to interact with the cell’s Ace2 receptor, making it impenetrable.
Small changes to the virus over time is a more likely scenario, that will enable virologists and vaccine manufacturers to adapt and react to those changes, similarly to the way the annual flu vaccine is developed.
Earlier this month, Ms Gilbert said the developing world where vaccines are scarce should be the priority of distribution of supplies of injections, rather than booster campaigns.
The Oxford University professor said immunity in those already given the Pfizer and AstraZeneca doses was holding up well.
Vaccinations for flu season begin in Dubai - in pictures
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
India squads
Test squad against Afghanistan: Rahane (c), Dhawan, Vijay, Rahul, Pujara, Karun, Saha, Ashwin, Jadeja, Kuldeep, Umesh, Shami, Pandya, Ishant, Thakur.
T20 squad against Ireland and England: Kohli (c), Dhawan, Rohit, Rahul, Raina, Pandey, Dhoni, Karthik, Chahal, Kuldeep, Sundar, Bhuvneshwar, Bumrah, Pandya, Kaul, Umesh.
ODI squad against England: Kohli (c), Dhawan, Rohit, Rahul, Shreyas, Rayudu, Dhoni, Karthik, Chahal, Kuldeep, Sundar, Bhuvneshwar, Bumrah, Pandya, Kaul, Umesh
The specs: 2019 GMC Yukon Denali
Price, base: Dh306,500
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Power: 420hp @ 5,600rpm
Torque: 621Nm @ 4,100rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.9L / 100km
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
US households add $601bn of debt in 2019
American households borrowed another $601 billion (Dh2.2bn) in 2019, the largest yearly gain since 2007, just before the global financial crisis, according to February data from the New York Federal Reserve Bank.
Fuelled by rising mortgage debt as homebuyers continued to take advantage of low interest rates, the increase last year brought total household debt to a record high, surpassing the previous peak reached in 2008 just before the market crash, according to the report.
Following the 22nd straight quarter of growth, American household debt swelled to $14.15 trillion by the end of 2019, the New York Fed said in its quarterly report.
In the final three months of the year, new home loans jumped to their highest volume since the fourth quarter of 2005, while credit cards and auto loans also added to the increase.
The bad debt load is taking its toll on some households, and the New York Fed warned that more and more credit card borrowers — particularly young people — were falling behind on their payments.
"Younger borrowers, who are disproportionately likely to have credit cards and student loans as their primary form of debt, struggle more than others with on-time repayment," New York Fed researchers said.