Why is the coronavirus getting younger and younger and where is the greatest danger from the new strain?

Acting Director of the National Cancer Institute, Professor of Genetics Sonata Jarmalaitė Delphi Day says that the idea of ​​an immunity passport can be understood in different ways.

“We have to start from the fact that other countries have also considered the idea of ​​an immunity passport, for example the UK has dropped the idea. The immunity passport can probably be understood in different ways. Doctors know the vaccine passport as a necessity, really vaccinate with a new vaccine, a new generation vaccine, all records about the vaccine are necessary. If they help the patient to move later, to travel to work or to another place, that’s great, but if it becomes a passport for bars, events or another place, then there is definitely an opportunity for discrimination, ”says the professor.

There are also downsides

Ingrida Olendraitė, a virologist at the University of Cambridge, believes that there are many things in the details, although the idea of ​​such a passport is a good one.

“I’d probably call him a professor because I really don’t imagine that I would need an immunity passport to go buy water at the store, maybe I’m allergic and I don’t have to get vaccinated or I’m very careful. I think the idea is a good one and its purpose is to help us get out of a pandemic more easily, and for people to travel for work, etc. However, as always, the devil is in the details and it will be very important what those details will be, ”says the virologist.

“I imagine that the immunity passport, at least in the beginning, until we know the long-term persistence of immunity, it will be for some time,” added the virologist.

When asked how long such an immunity passport could be valid, Professor S. Jarmalaitė assured that it must be remembered that the purpose of vaccination is to create immunity in the population.

“I would suggest not to confuse that passport. We start to vaccinate the employees and there is a special form in the electronic system that you have to fill out, whatever the vaccine is. It says everything there is, what vaccine was applied, at what minute it was applied and will re-record the other vaccine, there will be a lot of data, after some time it will probably be necessary to revaccinate, we do the same with tick-borne encephalitis. This record, everyone has a connection to their electronic system and can filter that data, there really is no need for any special program.

Whoever wants will have that information. It should be remembered that the purpose of vaccination is to develop the immunity of the population. We hope to have 70 to 80 percent of the population and we will have received that vaccine. We will definitely not carry a chip or something, we will only know that such a fact exists in our health data ”, says S. Jarmalaitė.

Mutation of the virus is a natural process

When asked how dangerous the new virus mutation could be, the professor assured that the virus constantly mutates, which is natural.

“From what science says, this time the number of mutations was surprisingly high. The virus is constantly mutating, it is natural. (…) The infection spreads faster because the interaction with the cell is more successful. The evolution of the virus it is designed to survive and spread, and scientific progress is designed to track and control it.

In the UK, the spread has intensified several times, but strict control measures have been taken there. There is already a strict quarantine in our country, these new mutations are not detected, there are in other countries. Yes, we will constantly face this type of outbreak, and the most important thing is not to increase resistance to vaccines, acquired immunity, lethality and the like ”, says the professor.

The biggest problem with the new mutation is the spread of lightning.

Virologist I. Olendraitė says on the show that the main threat of the new virus mutation is a large number of sick people and a huge burden on hospitals.

“The problem with danger is how we define it. The dangers of this mutation are certainly not due to more severe cases or a more difficult course of the disease. This option does not escape immunity, but the problem is that the rate of R is increasing dramatically and even in Denmark it is estimated that it is probably 70 percent more contagious. Now more and more people are getting sick, and in the spring we learned that when we see a lot of sick people, there are problems in the hospitals, a shortage of doctors. That higher infectivity puts more pressure on our hospitals.

For example, we used to be able to get together for coffee and certainly not everyone got infected, but in this case, if we have such a widespread variety as now in England, we see that the spread is very fast and each of our careless contacts is much more risky. The burden for hospitals is the danger posed by this virus, “said the virologist.

There may also be a new variety in Lithuania

When asked how he evaluates the situation in Lithuania, the virologist assured that the virus strain is probably also present in Lithuania, but it is not very widespread.

“We have (a new variety), but most likely it is not very widespread due to the quarantine we have,” replied the virologist. “The fact that we didn’t find that new strain meant that we used a very strategic and precise segmentation of several samples, but in the end we analyzed eight samples where it was likely that that strain would have been under certain molecular markers, but there was another strain.

Just look at how many cases we have every day, so those eight samples don’t really count the whole situation. Somewhere, it is likely that a person sitting in self-isolation may have that variety and it would be very good if not everyone gets together, does not go to each other, “added the virologist.

When asked why and how the virus could kill even the lives of young people, the virologist assured us that sometimes our immunity reacts too violently to the virus. According to her, we should all be careful.

“It just came to our knowledge then. I don’t think anyone knows the exact answer. There are scientists who analyze how people are genetically different because it is easier for some people to get sick and others more difficult. But here too, my personal thoughts are that nobody knows exactly what our health indicators are, the nuances of immunity down to the molecular level, nobody knows. (…) Sometimes we can be very active, live well, run. For example, I received a message where a person says who runs every morning, then bathes in the cold water of the Nemunas, and ensures that the virus will definitely not take it, but unfortunately, it will take it. But it also depends on the fact that perhaps that person received a very high dose of the virus, maybe they had a party there and spent the whole night together and breathed that virus, ”says I. Olendraitė.