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Covid-19 Mutations

Is the virus that causes Covid-19 more or less likely than flu viruses to mutate and cause a large, ongoing death toll?

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Per the Journal of Infectious Diseases, "All viruses mutate, but influenza remains highly unusual among infectious diseases" because it mutates very rapidly, and thus, "new vaccines are needed almost every year" to protect against it. In contrast, a March 2020 paper in a molecular biology journal reported that the virus that causes C-19 "does not mutate rapidly for an RNA virus because, unusually for this category, it has a proof-reading function" in its genetics. This means that C-19 is unlikely to have a large ongoing death toll and take lives regardless of acquired immunity. Contrary to opposing claims by the World Health Organization and the media, a torrent of research has confirmed this fact, including studies published by the South Korean CDC, the journal Cell, the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.



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