LOS ANGELES - The race against the virus that causes COVID-19 has taken a new turn: Mutations are rapidly popping up, and the longer it takes to vaccinate people, the more likely it is that a variant that can elude current tests, treatments and vaccines could emerge.The coronavirus is becoming more genetically diverse, and health officials say the high rate of new cases is the main reason.
Each new infection gives the virus a chance to mutate as it makes copies of itself, threatening to undo the progress made so far to control the pandemic.On Friday, the World Health Organization urged more effort to detect new variants.