Worries About Viral Resistance to Covid-19 Vaccines Are Overdone
The shots will continue to provide protection even as the virus evolves, scientists say.
Scientists say they’re hearing from members of the public who worry that the virus that causes Covid-19 will evolve resistance to the vaccines against it. “I’m getting freaked-out emails every day,” says Vincent Racaniello, a Columbia professor of microbiology and immunology. “There’s a lot of talk about ‘vaccine resistance,’” says William Hanage, an epidemiologist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
The public’s concerns are understandable. Viruses, like bacteria, are constantly mutating. Considering that more than 2 million people a year in the U.S. are sickened by bacteria that have developed resistance to the first line of antibiotic defense, it stands to reason that viruses could likewise defeat the vaccines being deployed against them.