Virulence, they say that relaxing control measures while the majority of the world’s population remains unvaccinated risks the evolution of more transmissible, more virulent variants.These variants may be more dangerous for children and certain vulnerable groups, such as transplant patients with compromised immune systems, they argue.
They may also escape the protection afforded by existing vaccines. Even in countries where vaccination has reduced the numbers of hospitalizations and deaths, high case numbers and large numbers of unvaccinated individuals provide a mixing vessel in which new variants can emerge.“Relaxing restrictions boosts transmission and allows the virus population to expand, which enhances its adaptive evolutionary.