The argument against the variants arising from vaccination is the preexistence of the sequences before mass vaccination. However, this argument fails due to the fact that vaccine trials were taking place in these regions, and the dates/locations for the variants synch perfectly.
This post is about what is “generating” the “emergence” of the variants, which is predicated on their selection and amplification in frequency across a population. Of course the actual molecular mechanism is based on mutation coupled with selective pressure.
Viruses evolve through pseudo-random mutation coupled with a selection filter. The question is, “what filter is being applied to the virus?” The answer to that question informs us on how the virus will evolve over time.
In the case of vaccination, the selective filter is, of course, antibodies generated to the wild type prefusion spike protein. This filter removes variants that are neutralized by these antibodies, and allows the passage and amplification of variants that can circumvent these Abs
In the case of natural infection, the filter is a spectrum of antibodies that recognize multiple proteins that comprise the virus, as well as sub-variants of those proteins because the virus generates a swarm of mutations as it multiplies in a person’s body.
Therefore, the filter created by a natural infection will remove variants that are neutralized by this broad spectrum of antibodies, which by nature recognize multiple proteins of the virus and multiple variations of each.
Compared to the number of variants that can escape the vaccine induced selective filter, the relative number of variants that can escape the covid-induced immunity filter is tiny.
For a person who has not been infected or vax’d, their particular filter is wide open, since they can amplify and transmit the virus to the next person before their immune system has had time to neutralize it. Their filter is not focused on selecting variants based on Spike.
Therefore; those who are vaccinated create a narrowly focused filter that concentrates selective pressure on the Spike protein, and in this sense, it is the vaccinated population that is selecting for variants that are not neutralized by the vaccine induced antibodies.
Loading suggestions...