How many it gonna take I wonder?
How many jabs we gotta have before we're done n we're safe n life can be normal again?
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Senecaa · 70-79, M
Why are there so many variants of the virus? Its puzzling really why there should be so many variants to have to deal n with n get inoculated against that it makes you wonder will it ever end?
windinhishair · 61-69, M
@Senecaa Mutations naturally happen randomly. Many of them are less virulent and will just die out naturally. Others are more virulent or spread more easily. These are the ones that become the variants we are familiar with, because they have a competitive advantage and will outcompete the existing virus. The more people infected, the more likely variants will occur, which is one big reason that vaccination helps by reducing the number of infected.
ninalanyon · 61-69, T
@windinhishair Here is a chart showing the changing proportions of different variants:
It's out of date but shows the principle that new variants arise and if they are fitter then they crowd out the older variants.
Figure 5. Frequency of the 10 most abundant lineages across Denmark within the last 6 months. The frequency is calculated as a centered 14-day rolling average. Weekly increase: 2, 4, 7, 13, 20, 30, 47, 66, 75, 85, 93%. Source: Danish Covid-19 Genome Consortium, 17 March 2021, https://www.covid19genomics.dk/statistics. Accessed 19 March.
From https://covidreference.com/variantsIt's out of date but shows the principle that new variants arise and if they are fitter then they crowd out the older variants.
windinhishair · 61-69, M
@ninalanyon Thank you for this. It is a perfect illustration of natural selection in action in the real world.