Current vaccines may become ineffective in a year

Some suggested a concern that current COVID-19 vaccines such as Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines would become ineffective within a year. They say variations of the virus that are resistant to the first-generation vaccines may spread. 　

According to media outlets such as the Guardian on Tuesday (local time), Gavi, the global vaccine alliance, asked 77 epidemiologists in 28 countries around the world and found out that 66.2 percent thought that current COVID-19 vaccines may become ineffective within a year. 　

Experts worry that another pandemic could strike the world if mutations flow into advanced countries that lifted or alleviated lockdown after vaccination from underdeveloped countries which are slow in vaccinating their people and seeing variants of the virus appear. “New mutations arise every day. Sometimes they find a niche that makes them more fit than their predecessors. These lucky variants could transmit more efficiently and potentially evade immune responses to previous strains,” said Gregg Gonsalves, assistant professor of epidemiology at Yale University. 　

Heads of state in 23 countries, including South Korean President Moon Jae-in and the World Health Organization, on Monday called for an international treaty such as sharing vaccination information, stating that immunity should be treated as a global public good and vaccines should be made available around the world as soon as possible.


Youn-Jong Kim zozo@donga.com