At this point in the Covid-19 pandemic, you’re surely tired of hearing about a “new variant” of the coronavirus. We’ve got some bad news.
The SARS-CoV-2 virus is going to keep evolving, and that means that different versions of the virus will keep emerging, become dominant, and then get outpaced by a different variant. Part of this has to do with what’s called “immune escape,” or “immune evasion.”
That’s not unique to this coronavirus, of course. Other viruses that we live with are regularly changing as well — they just don’t get nearly the attention this virus has been getting, or get dubbed with Greek letters.
In the video above, we explain what’s going on with the evolution of the SARS-2 virus, what immune escape means, and why new versions of the virus keep appearing. With Covid here to stay, it’s a process that will be ongoing, even as — or so it’s hoped — the virus will gradually become less and less of a threat to people’s health.
To submit a correction request, please visit our Contact Us page.
