The Virus has Aged.

There is this Kent strain from UK. There is the South African strain which may not respect our vaccines. There is the Brazil strain which is supposed to be more lethal.

Are they the same Covid virus of 2020 or are they different ?

Here is an example.

When you meet one of your school friend after 20 years, you realise how much he has changed over the years. His hair line has receded, eyes have shrunken and cheeks have caved in.

Yet in some inexplicable way, he remains the same old friend of yours. His mannerism, those gestures and that unique style of throwing his head back while laughing aloud stamp him as the same old buddy of yours.

You shake his hand firmly and say,” You have changed my friend.”

“You have aged.”

“ So, too you.”

For the Corona Virus whose life span is only few hours, one year is a pretty long thing. There is bound to be some changes. Those changes are the new strains. Yet the virus at the core remains the same.

Yes, the virus has aged. 365 days equals several eons for it.

For us humans, it is important to catalogue all those tiny, tiny bits of changes called mutation.

Do they increase its transmission ? It seems the UK variant does. But not more lethal.

But then the South African strain has been able to hoodwink our vaccines, especially the spike protein antigens.

As the days pass, more and more mutations will be noted.

Friends, Don’t worry about these changes. RNA viruses are notorious for their mutability. Take the example of the Flu virus.

You see, we have created a FLUNET only to catalogue the frequent changes a Flu virus undergoes in a single season. Therefore, every year we have to formulate a new flu vaccine based on the changes so recorded

So be it with the Corona Virus.

But one thing is certain. As the days will pass on, the virus will become mellower and mellower. That is what that great Epidemiologist Theobald Smith has predicted one hundred years ago.

The Law of Declining Virulence. And we did not consider him for a Nobel prize even.