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Three comments:
1. If the AZ vaccine can’t stop mild and moderate illness in the South African variant, that’s likely true for the other vaccines too.
2. What matters most is stopping severe illness.
3. Kiss the idea of herd immunity goodbye. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-astrazeneca-vaccine-fails-to-stop-moderate-illness-from-new-variant/
1. If the AZ vaccine can’t stop mild and moderate illness in the South African variant, that’s likely true for the other vaccines too.
2. What matters most is stopping severe illness.
3. Kiss the idea of herd immunity goodbye. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-astrazeneca-vaccine-fails-to-stop-moderate-illness-from-new-variant/
With the South African variant now in Canada, this means the effectiveness of our vaccination plan will suffer. How much, science doesn’t yet know. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-public-health-variants-brazil-south-africa-1.5904959
We now know the virus can partly evade existing vaccines. This means herd immunity using those vaccines is impossible. We can and will change the vaccine to regain ground, but the virus will mutate again—so rinse and repeat, but without ever reaching herd immunity.
What this means is the COVID shot will not be a temporary nuisance. This virus will be with us forever, just like flu virus. All of us will need to be revaccinated from time to time, maybe yearly, maybe longer, and within that routine is safety. Welcome to the new normal.
