Let's talk vaccines: ᵂʰʸ ᵍᵉᵗᵗⁱⁿᵍ ᵛᵃᶜᶜⁱⁿᵃᵗᵉᵈ ⁱˢ ᵃ ᵐᵃᵗᵗᵉʳ ᵒᶠ ˡᵒᶜᵃˡ ᵃⁿᵈ ᵍˡᵒᵇᵃˡ ʰᵉᵃˡᵗʰ

For more than 50 years, vaccinations have saved more than a billion lives and prevented countless illnesses and disabilities in the United States. That's just the U.S. numbers, not worldwide! However, vaccine-preventable diseases, such as measles, mumps, and whooping cough, are still a threat. They continue to infect U.S. children, resulting in hospitalizations and deaths every year. Why? Because of the anti-vaccine movement spreading misinformation and denying scientific evidence. 

Here's factual information on why vaccinations are necessary that is based on scientific evidence.

ⱽᵃᶜᶜⁱⁿᵉ⁻ᵖʳᵉᵛᵉⁿᵗᵃᵇˡᵉ ᵈⁱˢᵉᵃˢᵉˢ ʰᵃᵛᵉ ⁿᵒᵗ ᵍᵒⁿᵉ ᵃʷᵃʸ

The viruses and bacteria that cause illness and death still exist and can be passed on to those who are not protected by vaccines. While many diseases are not common in the US, global travel makes it easy for diseases to spread.

ⱽᵃᶜᶜⁱⁿᵉˢ ʷⁱˡˡ ʰᵉˡᵖ ᵏᵉᵉᵖ ʸᵒᵘ ʰᵉᵃˡᵗʰʸ

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends vaccinations throughout your life to protect against many infections. When you skip vaccines, you leave yourself vulnerable to illnesses such as shingles, pneumococcal disease, flu, and HPV, and hepatitis B, both leading causes of cancer.

ⱽᵃᶜᶜⁱⁿᵉˢ ᵃʳᵉ ᵃˢ ⁱᵐᵖᵒʳᵗᵃⁿᵗ ᵗᵒ ʸᵒᵘʳ ᵒᵛᵉʳᵃˡˡ ʰᵉᵃˡᵗʰ ᵃˢ ᵈⁱᵉᵗ ᵃⁿᵈ ᵉˣᵉʳᶜⁱˢᵉ

Like eating healthy foods, exercising, and getting regular check-ups, vaccines play a vital role in keeping you healthy. Vaccines are one of the most convenient and safest preventive care measures available.

ⱽᵃᶜᶜⁱⁿᵃᵗⁱᵒⁿ ᶜᵃⁿ ᵐᵉᵃⁿ ᵗʰᵉ ᵈⁱᶠᶠᵉʳᵉⁿᶜᵉ ᵇᵉᵗʷᵉᵉⁿ ˡⁱᶠᵉ ᵃⁿᵈ ᵈᵉᵃᵗʰ

Vaccine-preventable infections can be deadly. Every year in the US, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, approximately 50,000 adults died from vaccine-preventable diseases. 

If children aren’t vaccinated, they can spread disease to other children who are too young to be vaccinated or to people with weakened immune systems, such as transplant recipients and people with cancer. This could result in long-term complications and even death for these vulnerable people.

ⱽᵃᶜᶜⁱⁿᵉˢ ᵃʳᵉ ˢᵃᶠᵉ

The US has a robust approval process to ensure that all licensed vaccines are safe. Potential side effects associated with vaccines are uncommon and much less severe than the diseases they prevent.

ⱽᵃᶜᶜⁱⁿᵉˢ ʷⁱˡˡ ⁿᵒᵗ ᶜᵃᵘˢᵉ ᵗʰᵉ ᵈⁱˢᵉᵃˢᵉˢ ᵗʰᵉʸ ᵃʳᵉ ᵈᵉˢⁱᵍⁿᵉᵈ ᵗᵒ ᵖʳᵉᵛᵉⁿᵗ

Vaccines contain either killed or weakened viruses, making it impossible to get the disease from the vaccine.

ʸᵒᵘⁿᵍ ᵃⁿᵈ ʰᵉᵃˡᵗʰʸ ᵖᵉᵒᵖˡᵉ ᶜᵃⁿ ᵍᵉᵗ ᵛᵉʳʸ ˢⁱᶜᵏ, ᵗᵒᵒ

Infants and older adults are at increased risk for serious infections and complications, but vaccine-preventable diseases can strike anyone. If you are young and healthy, getting vaccinated can help you stay that way.

ⱽᵃᶜᶜⁱⁿᵉ⁻ᵖʳᵉᵛᵉⁿᵗᵃᵇˡᵉ ᵈⁱˢᵉᵃˢᵉˢ ᵃʳᵉ ᵉˣᵖᵉⁿˢⁱᵛᵉ

Diseases not only have a direct impact on individuals and their families, but also carry a high price tag for society as a whole, exceeding $10 billion per year. An average flu illness can last up to 15 days, typically with five or six missed work or school days. Adults who get hepatitis A lose an average of one month of work.

ᵂʰᵉⁿ ʸᵒᵘ ᵍᵉᵗ ˢⁱᶜᵏ, ʸᵒᵘʳ ᶜʰⁱˡᵈʳᵉⁿ, ᵍʳᵃⁿᵈᶜʰⁱˡᵈʳᵉⁿ, ᵃⁿᵈ ᵖᵃʳᵉⁿᵗˢ ᵐᵃʸ ᵇᵉ ᵃᵗ ʳⁱˢᵏ, ᵗᵒᵒ

Adults are the most common source of pertussis (whooping cough) infection in infants which can be deadly for babies. When you get vaccinated, you are protecting yourself and your family as well as those in your community who may not be able to be vaccinated.  

ʸᵒᵘʳ ᶠᵃᵐⁱˡʸ ᵃⁿᵈ ᶜᵒ⁻ʷᵒʳᵏᵉʳˢ ⁿᵉᵉᵈ ʸᵒᵘ

In the US each year, millions of adults get sick from vaccine-preventable diseases, causing them to miss work and leaving them unable to care for those who depend on them, including their children and/or aging parents.

Vaccination’s immediate benefit is individual immunity: It provides long-term, sometimes lifelong protection against disease. The secondary benefit of vaccination, however, is herd immunity (also known as community immunity.) When community vaccination rates drop below the threshold of herd immunity, widespread disease outbreaks can occur. The threshold of herd immunity for polio, for example, is estimated to be between 80% and 86%; if the vaccination rate drops significantly below this level, the level of community protection may not be enough to prevent the disease from spreading—primarily to those who have no prior immunity because they haven’t been vaccinated (due to chronic illnesses or vaccine refusal) or because they were vaccinated, but it was not effective.

This is precisely what happened in England when MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccination rates dropped. Measles is extremely infectious; therefore, it has a higher herd immunity threshold than most other diseases. In the late 1990s, MMR vaccination rates began to drop from more than 90% to 80% or lower—well below the level required for herd immunity against measles. In response, the number of cases began to rise: while only 56 cases were confirmed in Wales and England in 1998, 1,348 were confirmed by 2008. A disease whose spread in the country had been halted more than a decade prior was once again endemic.

It should be very clear that everyone can’t try to hide in the herd. Herd immunity should only be for the following groups of people: people who are too young to be vaccinated or fully vaccinated, people who can’t be vaccinated because they were born with an immunodeficiency or get cancer and are on chemotherapy and other true medical exemptions, and even people who are vaccinated but their vaccine didn’t work. Herd immunity isn't for people who have religious and philosophical suspicions but no actual evidence to prove their claims. And there is no actual scientific evidence to support anti-vaxxers, in fact, but there is actual scientific evidence to support the science of vaccines. If too many people are trying to hide in the herd and have skipped their vaccines, then we have a breakdown in herd immunity and we start to see the return of many vaccine-preventable diseases.

We all have a public health commitment to our communities to protect each other and each other’s children by vaccinating ourselves and our own family members. Vaccination does more than just protect an individual; it protects entire communities.

Sources: nfid.org, historyofvaccines.org, immunize.org, vaxopedia.org

Let's talk vaccines: ᵀʰᵉ ᴬⁿᵗⁱ⁻ⱽᵃᶜᶜⁱⁿᵉ ᴹᵒᵛᵉᵐᵉⁿᵗ ⁱˢ ᴰᵃⁿᵍᵉʳᵒᵘˢ

Anti-vaxxers are people who believe that vaccines are unsafe and infringe on their human rights. They typically deny the existence or validity of the science supporting their use in the general population. In recent years, they have also allowed life-saving vaccines to become politicized. 

I've included several articles that discuss the dangers anti-vaxxers pose to local and global health along with all of the sources and resources I have used for this vaccine series. You can access those articles by clicking here. I especially recommend the one titled, "The Anti-vaccination Movement: A Regression in Modern Medicine." 

Let's talk vaccines: ᵀʰᵉ ᵛᵃᶜᶜⁱⁿᵉ⁻ᵃᵘᵗⁱˢᵐ ᵐʸᵗʰ

Since the quest for a smallpox vaccine started there has been a certain amount of pushback. The modern wave of vaccine skepticism has its origins in the 1970s. That was when concerns (later determined to be unfounded) about the safety of a whole-cell vaccine against pertussis, or whooping cough, came to the fore in many high-income countries. In the 1980s and 1990s, a few organized groups opposed to vaccines emerged in many countries, including the United Kingdom. And so it was in 1998 that Andrew Wakefield, MD, and two colleagues published a study in the UK publication, The Lancet. 

The 1998 study was a case series of 12 child patients that reported a proposed “new syndrome” of enterocolitis and regressive autism and associated this with MMR as an “apparent precipitating event,” the researchers wrote. The truth is that the patients were recruited through anti-MMR campaigners, and the study was commissioned and funded for planned litigation. It has been proven that Wakefield and his colleagues altered numerous facts about the patients’ medical histories to support the claim. Additionally, Wakefield’s institution, the Royal Free Hospital and Medical School in London, supported him and had knowledge of his intentional deceit in order to profit. 

This 1998 paper wasn't the first study Wakefield had attempted to gain traction with or force a correlation between various health issues.  For example, Wakefield authored a paper in 1995, also in The Lancet, claiming that measles vaccination was associated with inflammatory bowel disease. That paper compared disease occurrence in two unrelated cohorts — a child-health study from before measles vaccines were introduced, and a study of another group after its introduction. The cohorts were selected using dissimilar recruitment and follow-up methods, and from different populations. This apples-with-brussels-sprouts comparison was criticized at the time by scientists at the US Food and Drug Administration and at the Department of Health in England, and by others with expertise in statistics, epidemiology, virology, and related disciplines. 

Following the 1998 publication, two things happened. One, MMR vaccination rates dramatically decreased in the UK, and two, the scientific community said "whaaaaaaa?" Those who already had some kind of vaccine hesitancy allowed the "study" to bolster their bias, and others started doing research of their own. During the next 10 years, epidemiological studies consistently found no evidence of a link between the MMR vaccine and autism. 

In 2003, Brian Deer, a British journalist, became interested in Wakefield's claims after a discrepancy between an interview with the mother of one of the children included in the 1998 study and the descriptions in the paper itself gave him one of the first clues that something sinister was afoot. In 2010 Deer, through the British Medical Journal (BMJ), published a series of articles exposing the fraud he had uncovered through several years of investigative work. Deer's deep dive into Wakefield and the supposed study conducted to establish the link between the MMR vaccine and autism resulted in the following conclusion, "the original Wakefield study was not only conducted 'dishonestly' and 'irresponsibly,' but that the data are 'bogus.'" 

The BMJ's publication of Deer's work led to the U.K. General Medical Council doing their own investigation which confirmed Brian Deer's research and led to Andrew Wakefield being stripped of his medical license in 2012. The Lancet retracted the 1998 publication. The paper has since been completely discredited due to serious procedural errors, undisclosed financial conflicts of interest, and ethical violations. 

Due to the numerous studies conducted between 1998 and 2008 that found no evidence of a link between the MMR and autism, Brian Deer's investigation, the U.K. General Medical Council's investigation the door should be clearly closed on this fraudulent and damaging vaccine scare tactic. Unfortunately, some still stubbornly cling to this myth, this lie, that has been the cause of unnecessary illness and in some cases, death. 

For the numerous sources discussing this topic please click here. 

Let's talk vaccines: ⱽᵃᶜᶜⁱⁿᵉ ᴹʸᵗʰˢ

Fears over the safety of vaccines are understandable. Research, however, shows that most of our biggest fears about vaccinations are unfounded. Let's look at some of the most popular myths circulating.

ᴹʸᵗʰ ¹: ⱽᵃᶜᶜⁱⁿᵉˢ ᶜᵃᵘˢᵉ ᵃᵘᵗⁱˢᵐ.

This is a popular myth that anti-vaxxers love to cite over and over. The problem is, it's not true and never was. Did you catch that? It never was. This particular myth is so important to the cause of anti-vaxxers that I'm going to give it a post of its own so for now let this summary of the myth tide you over. 

The widespread fear that vaccines increase risk of autism originated with a 1997 study published by Andrew Wakefield, a British surgeon. The article was published in The Lancet, a prestigious medical journal, suggesting that the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine was increasing autism in British children.

The paper has since been completely discredited due to serious procedural errors, undisclosed financial conflicts of interest, and ethical violations. Andrew Wakefield lost his medical license and the paper was retracted from The Lancet.

Nonetheless, the hypothesis was taken seriously, and several other major studies were conducted. None of them found a link between any vaccine and the likelihood of developing autism.

ᴹʸᵗʰ ²: ᴵⁿᶠᵃⁿᵗ ⁱᵐᵐᵘⁿᵉ ˢʸˢᵗᵉᵐˢ ᶜᵃⁿ'ᵗ ʰᵃⁿᵈˡᵉ ˢᵒ ᵐᵃⁿʸ ᵛᵃᶜᶜⁱⁿᵉˢ.

Based on the number of antibodies present in the blood, a baby would theoretically have the ability to respond to around 10,000 vaccines at one time. Even if all 14 scheduled vaccines were given at once, it would only use up slightly more than 0.1% of a baby's immune capacity. And scientists believe this capacity is purely theoretical. The immune system could never truly be overwhelmed because the cells in the system are constantly being replenished.

ᴹʸᵗʰ ³: ᴺᵃᵗᵘʳᵃˡ ⁱᵐᵐᵘⁿⁱᵗʸ ⁱˢ ᵇᵉᵗᵗᵉʳ ᵗʰᵃⁿ ᵛᵃᶜᶜⁱⁿᵉ⁻ᵃᶜqᵘⁱʳᵉᵈ ⁱᵐᵐᵘⁿⁱᵗʸ.

In some cases, natural immunity — meaning actually catching a disease and getting sick– results in a stronger immunity to the disease than a vaccination. However, the dangers of this approach far outweigh the relative benefits. If you wanted to gain immunity to measles, for example, by contracting the disease, you would face a 1 in 500 chance of death from your symptoms. In contrast, the number of people who have had severe allergic reactions from an MMR vaccine, is less than one-in-one million.

ᴹʸᵗʰ ⁴: ⱽᵃᶜᶜⁱⁿᵉˢ ᶜᵒⁿᵗᵃⁱⁿ ᵘⁿˢᵃᶠᵉ ᵗᵒˣⁱⁿˢ.

People have concerns over the use of formaldehyde, mercury or aluminum in vaccines. It's true that these chemicals are toxic to the human body in certain levels, but only trace amounts of these chemicals are used in FDA approved vaccines. In fact, according to the FDA and the CDC, formaldehyde is produced at higher rates by our own metabolic systems and there is no scientific evidence that the low levels of this chemical, mercury or aluminum in vaccines can be harmful.

ᴹʸᵗʰ ⁵: ᴮᵉᵗᵗᵉʳ ʰʸᵍⁱᵉⁿᵉ ᵃⁿᵈ ˢᵃⁿⁱᵗᵃᵗⁱᵒⁿ ᵃʳᵉ ᵃᶜᵗᵘᵃˡˡʸ ʳᵉˢᵖᵒⁿˢⁱᵇˡᵉ ᶠᵒʳ ᵈᵉᶜʳᵉᵃˢᵉᵈ ⁱⁿᶠᵉᶜᵗⁱᵒⁿˢ, ⁿᵒᵗ ᵛᵃᶜᶜⁱⁿᵉˢ.

Vaccines don't deserve all the credit for reducing or eliminating rates of infectious disease. Better sanitation, nutrition, and the development of antibiotics helped a lot too. But when these factors are isolated and rates of infectious disease are scrutinized, the role of vaccines cannot be denied.

One example is measles in the United States. When the first measles vaccine was introduced in 1963, rates of infection had been holding steady at around 400,000 cases a year. And while hygienic habits and sanitation didn't change much over the following decade, the rate of measles infections dropped precipitously following the introduction of the vaccine, with only around 25,000 cases by 1970.

ᴹʸᵗʰ ⁶: ⱽᵃᶜᶜⁱⁿᵉˢ ᵃʳᵉⁿ'ᵗ ʷᵒʳᵗʰ ᵗʰᵉ ʳⁱˢᵏ.

Despite parent concerns, children have been successfully vaccinated for decades. In fact, there has never been a single credible study linking vaccines to long-term health conditions.

As for immediate danger from vaccines, in the form of allergic reactions or severe side effects, the incidence of death are so rare they can't even truly be calculated. For example, only one death was reported to the CDC between 1990 and 1992 that was attributable to a vaccine. The overall incidence rate of severe allergic reaction to vaccines is usually placed around one case for every one or two million injections.

ᴹʸᵗʰ ⁷: ⱽᵃᶜᶜⁱⁿᵉˢ ᶜᵃⁿ ⁱⁿᶠᵉᶜᵗ ᵐʸ ᶜʰⁱˡᵈ (or me) ʷⁱᵗʰ ᵗʰᵉ ᵈⁱˢᵉᵃˢᵉ ⁱᵗ'ˢ ᵗʳʸⁱⁿᵍ ᵗᵒ ᵖʳᵉᵛᵉⁿᵗ.

Vaccines can cause mild symptoms resembling those of the disease they are protecting against. A common misconception is that these symptoms signal infection. In fact, in the small percentage (less than 1 in one million cases) where symptoms do occur, the vaccine recipients are experiencing a body's immune response to the vaccine, not the disease itself. There is only one recorded instance in which a vaccine was shown to cause disease. This was the Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) which is no longer used in the U.S.

ᴹʸᵗʰ ⁸: ᵂᵉ ᵈᵒⁿ'ᵗ ⁿᵉᵉᵈ ᵗᵒ ᵛᵃᶜᶜⁱⁿᵃᵗᵉ ᵇᵉᶜᵃᵘˢᵉ ⁱⁿᶠᵉᶜᵗⁱᵒⁿ ʳᵃᵗᵉˢ ᵃʳᵉ ᵃˡʳᵉᵃᵈʸ ˢᵒ ˡᵒʷ ⁱⁿ ᵗʰᵉ ᵁⁿⁱᵗᵉᵈ ˢᵗᵃᵗᵉˢ.

If too many people don't vaccinate themselves or their children, they contribute to a collective danger, opening up opportunities for viruses and bacteria to establish themselves and spread.

Not to mention, as the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) warn, international travel is growing quickly, so even if a disease is not a threat in your country, it may be common elsewhere. If someone were to carry in a disease from abroad, an unvaccinated individual will be at far greater risk of getting sick if he or she is exposed.

ᴹʸᵗʰ ⁹: ⱽᵃᶜᶜⁱⁿᵉˢ ᴾʳᵒᵈᵘᶜᵉ ᵂᵒʳˢᵉ ⱽᵃʳⁱᵃⁿᵗˢ.

One key way to cut down on the odds of a nasty mutant popping up is to just keep the virus from reproducing so much. Cut down on the number of people it infects. When it does infect people, cut down on the amount of time it spends reproducing inside the body. These countermeasures are exactly what a mass vaccination program does. Fewer people get infected in the first place, and when they do get infected, their disease course tends in the great majority of cases to be shorter and milder. Click here to read a great article dissecting this myth. 

Sources: publichealth.org, science.org

Let's talk infectious diseases, the reason for vaccines: ᴮʳᵉᵃᵏᵗʰʳᵒᵘᵍʰ ᴵⁿᶠᵉᶜᵗⁱᵒⁿˢ

 

Just as variants are expected with any virus, so are vaccine breakthrough infections. These breakthroughs can happen for several reasons. A variant, immunocompromised or immunosuppressed individuals, vaccines aren't 100% effective (remember NOTHING is), some people's bodies don't accept vaccines (this is called immunocompetent), and it can just happen without scientific explanation. Regardless of the reason, breakthrough infections are rare but expected. 

A study in Washington state gathered data from over 4 million fully vaccinated people. The data showed a rate of about 1 in 5,000 experienced a breakthrough infection between January 17 and August 21, 2021. More recently, some populations have shown breakthrough infection rates of approximately 1 in 100 fully vaccinated people.

So, if someone is going to get a virus that can be addressed with a vaccine (which, of course, nobody knows if they are going to get it or not) then why bother getting the vaccine? Breakthrough coronavirus infections can cause mild or moderate illness, but the chances of serious COVID-19 are very low, especially for people who are not living with a chronic health condition. The COVID-19 vaccines are very effective in keeping you from having to go to the hospital, being put on a ventilator, or dying due to severe coronavirus disease.

Critics and skeptics might point to the recent death of former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell to refute the low occurrence of breakthrough infections in fully vaccinated people. However, Powell was immunocompromised due to battling multiple myeloma as well as Parkinson's, leaving him susceptible to complications. All along scientists and the medical community have made it clear that those who are immunocompromised or immunosuppressed are at greater risk from the virus, but that vaccination does provide a level of protection and is recommended.  

Sources: hopkinsmedicine.org, cdc.gov

Let's talk infectious diseases, the reason for vaccines: ⱽᵃʳⁱᵃⁿᵗˢ

So, let's talk variants. It's a hot topic these days with numerous variants of the COVID-19 virus evolving. Viruses are changing and mutating all the time. It happens when the virus enters our body and makes copies of itself as it spreads from cell to cell. Sometimes the virus makes a mistake and its genetic information is changed slightly as it’s copied. Sometimes those errors cause a disease to fade away; other times, it causes the virus to become more deadly or easily spread.

First, a vocab lesson:

• Mutation:  A mutation refers to a single change in a virus’s genome (genetic code). Mutations happen very frequently, but only sometimes change the characteristics of the virus.
• Lineage: A lineage is a group of closely related viruses with a common ancestor. SARS-CoV-2 has many lineages; all cause COVID-19.
• Variant: A variant is a viral genome (genetic code) that may contain one or more mutations. In some cases, a group of variants with similar genetic changes, such as a lineage or group of lineages, may be designated by public health organizations as a Variant of Concern or a Variant of Interest due to shared attributes and characteristics that may require public health action.

When a variant is suspected it is elevated to being studied in depth. If it is considered to have concerning epidemiological, immunological or pathogenic properties, they graduate to formal investigation. From there, the variants are categorized into the following: 

• Variants Being Monitored (VBM) - which is all variants, literally
• Variant of Interest (VOI) - Possible attributes of a variant of interest:
• Specific genetic markers that are predicted to affect transmission, diagnostics, therapeutics, or immune escape.
• Evidence that it is the cause of an increased proportion of cases or unique outbreak clusters.
• Limited prevalence or expansion in the US or in other countries.

• Variant of Concern (VOC) - Possible attributes of a VOC include those listed for a VOI and the following:
• Evidence of impact on diagnostics, treatments, or vaccines
• Widespread interference with diagnostic test targets
• Evidence of substantially decreased susceptibility to one or more class of therapies
• Evidence of significant decreased neutralization by antibodies generated during previous infection or vaccination
• Evidence of reduced vaccine-induced protection from severe disease
• Evidence of increased transmissibility
• Evidence of increased disease severity
• Variant of High Consequence (VOHC) - Possible attributes of a VOHC include those listed for a VOI and VOC as well as the following:
• Impact on Medical Countermeasures (MCM)
• Demonstrated failure of diagnostic test targets
• Evidence to suggest a significant reduction in vaccine effectiveness, a disproportionately high number of infections in vaccinated persons, or very low vaccine-induced protection against severe disease
• Significantly reduced susceptibility to multiple Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) or approved therapeutics
• More severe clinical disease and increased hospitalizations

As of October 4, 2021 the CDC has 10 VBMs, zero VOIs, and 1 VOC they are looking at in the U.S. The WHO has slightly different tracking methods since they are looking at global outbreaks. The WHO is tracking 15 VBMs, 2 VOIs, and 4 VOCs. Currently, neither organization has any VOHCs.

Because of these expected variants, infectious diseases have the potential to wipe out whole populations of people unless the virus, and its variants, can be stopped or slowed down with very specific measures. 

1) Social distancing/quarantine 

2) Wearing masks 

3) Practicing good hygiene 

4) Vaccines

What about variants and vaccines? Because of ongoing changes, the vaccines we have now will eventually need to be altered to address those changes. Just like the flu shot each year. Based on the top strains the vaccine is altered each year to target those. Scientists believe the coronavirus may end up, at some point, arriving at the same place - the vaccine being altered each year based on the VOCs. 

Sources: who.int, intermountainhealthcare.org, cdc.gov, indianexpress.com