Despite vaccinations, people around the world continue to get sick. Including, due to new strains resistant to post-vaccine immunity. Therefore, even in countries where the population is actively vaccinated, it is worth observing strict epidemiological restrictions. Genetic scientists came to this conclusion after they created a model for the spread of coronavirus.
A group of researchers led by Fyodor Kondrashov from the Austrian Institute of Science and Technology have built an epidemiological model that helps to find out what determines whether a new variant will disappear or become entrenched in the population.
According to this model, an epidemic in a population of 10 million people will develop within three years, but only if vaccination begins after the first year of infection. Scientists have tested what affects the likelihood of a resistant strain. In their model, it depended on the proportion of the vaccinated population and the threshold number of infected.
The researchers suggested that the emergence of a new strain could be delayed by reducing the rate of spread of the virus in the population.
They introduced an analogue of epidemiological constraints into the model. The longer they lasted, the more the probability of the appearance of a new strain fell. The researchers concluded that mass vaccinations should not be an excuse to relax restrictions: social distancing and restrictions on travel between countries. Since the rate of vaccination in different regions may differ, free movement increases the risk that new variants will enter the population, writes Scientific Reports.
Earlier, the WHO explained where the new strains come from.
Read more news about the coronavirus here.
Photo: Depositphotos
Read also:
I was not afraid to get vaccinated against coronavirus: column of a nursing mother
An allergic child wants a pet – what to do
Raising a gigolo: fatal mistakes in raising sons
Without whining and whims: what to do with your child on the road
“Looks gorgeous”: Danila Kozlovsky's mother turned 70
