It’s been over a year since Covid-19 began spreading around the world. Since then, amazing progress has been made on getting the virus under control. But tackling the coronavirus quickly is still important, since the virus is also changing.
The new coronavirus, named SARS-CoV-2, was first discovered in China in late 2019. Since that time, the virus has had huge and terrible effects on the world. Over 100 million people have gotten Covid-19, and more than 2.2 million people have died from it.
(Source: Ballofstring [CC BY-SA], via Wikimedia Commons.)
Even countries which did a good job of getting the coronavirus under control, such as New Zealand, Taiwan, and Vietnam, have had many problems as the virus shows up again and again.
Scientists and doctors worldwide have made incredible progress in studying the coronavirus and figuring out ways to fight it. Because the virus was so unknown and so dangerous, scientists had to work quickly to figure out how it spread, how it attacked the body, and how to help people who got it.
(Source: Gobierno de la Provincia de Santa Fe [CC BY-SA 2.5 AR], via Wikimedia Commons.)
In an amazing effort, scientists have managed to create vaccines to protect against the coronavirus in just a year. The process of creating vaccines normally takes many years. Now, there’s not just one working vaccine, but many.
So far, nine different vaccines have been approved by at least one government. The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is being used in over 30 countries. At least two of the vaccines are over 90% successful at protecting people from the coronavirus.
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So far, nine different vaccines have been approved by at least one government. The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine (above) is being used in over 30 countries. At least two of the vaccines are over 90% successful at protecting people from the coronavirus.
But even as humans have changed their lives to fight the virus, the virus is also changing. Since December, scientists have identified at least four different “variants” of the coronavirus.
A variant happens when a virus changes very slightly. There are thousands of variants, but the ones that are worrying are the ones where the changes make the virus spread more easily or have more serious effects.
So far the variants that scientists are most worried about are those from the United Kingdom (UK), South Africa, and Brazil. These variants have now been found in many places around the world.
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One danger of the new variants is that they could increase the chances of people getting the coronavirus more than once.
Another concern is that the vaccines that have been developed may not protect so well against the variants. Drug companies are already working to improve their vaccines to protect against the new variants, too.
Luckily, many of the steps that people are already taking to avoid spreading the coronavirus also work on the variants. These steps include wearing masks, social distancing, and avoiding large gatherings.
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Luckily, many of the steps that people are already taking to avoid spreading the coronavirus also work on the variants. These steps include wearing masks, social distancing, and avoiding large gatherings.
One worry for the future is that so far, most of the vaccines are being bought by richer countries. Some people expect that by the end of the year, 75% of the people in rich countries will be protected by vaccines, while just 25% of those in poor countries will have gotten a vaccine.
Health experts point out that until people in all countries are protected, new variants could keep appearing. For this reason, it’s important to protect everyone everywhere as quickly as possible.