Now that COVID-19 vaccines are widely available across the country, Stanley H. Weiss, an epidemiologist in infectious and chronic diseases, and a professor at the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and the Rutgers School of Public Health, talks about vaccine side effects, the hesitancy that still exists and why it is important to get vaccinated.
Will the vaccines protect against current virus variants and strains that may arise?
Emerging preliminary data indicate that several vaccines work fine against some of the new mutations, including those now becoming common in the USA. The manufacturers of the COVID-19 vaccines that used long viral sequences evoke a broad response, both the new technology based on mRNA and other vaccine platforms, can quickly develop and produce boosters that are expected to address new strains. There is concern that the current vaccines may not sufficiently protect against other evolving variants from around the world. No country is truly isolated, so worldwide control is critical to gaining control over the pandemic. To read the full story.