And now for the bad news. *sigh*
It looks like #B117, the more transmissible variant first detected in England, has now picked up the E484K mutation as well. That is the one linked to evading SOME immunity in SAfrica and Brazil.

h/t @_b_meyer
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/957504/Variant_of_Concern_VOC_202012_01_Technical_Briefing_5_England.pdf
"Preliminary information suggests more than one acquisition event.”

If this is true, it is one more sign that this mutation is a relatively easy way for the virus to acquire some advantage in populations with some immunity.
I worry that we will see this in many places with B117.
And as @_b_meyer points out it may very well be that a mutation like N501Y makes it more likely for the virus to acquire this mutation because it almost “needs" it.
(Or as @K_G_Andersen would probably say: Maybe Nelly kinda seeks out the bad guys… ) https://twitter.com/_b_meyer/status/1356361237395865600
This is a new finding, so as usual we will have to live with a lot of uncertainty for a while.
There are a TON of questions that we all have.
And there are a lot of already stressed and tired scientists who are working hard to get those answers.
We will see what this means.
But it sure seems like this virus is telling us again and again, that it will gladly take any opportunity we allow it of spreading and replicating to evolve and make our lives even harder.

It’s just that it is telling us this in As, Cs, Gs and Us - the only language it speaks...
https://twitter.com/theosanderson/status/1356374365080846336
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