Covid-19: Is It Mutating?

A number of media outlets reported that the coronavirus is mutating. Is it a cause for concern?

- Dr Jeremy Rossman

Viruses replicate during the infection process. For most viruses, replication results in many errors, which means that viruses like the flu mutate rapidly. This can lead to treatments and vaccines becoming ineffective and is one of the reasons why we need a new flu jab every year.

Coronaviruses will accumulate mutations, but they do so at a slower rate because they ‘proofread’ their replicated genome. Mutations do occur, though, and could have many different effects on the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and our ability to control the pandemic.