In a new study, researchers did a genetic analysis of sequences from more than 27,000 individuals infected with the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
They found that the virus has mutated minimally since December 2019. This suggests one vaccine would be sufficient to combat global infections.
The research was conducted by a team of scientists from the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and elsewhere.
To characterize COVID-19 virus diversification since the beginning of the pandemic, the team aligned 18,514 independent virus genome sequences sampled from patients in 84 countries.
Analyses showed low estimates of genetic differentiation following the initial outbreak, and indicate that, so far, the SARS-CoV-2 genome has evolved through a mostly random process rather than through adaptation to the human hosts it encounters.
Given the low level of genetic variation, a promising vaccine candidate would likely be equally efficacious against all currently circulating strains of the COVID-19 coronavirus.
The team says viral diversity has challenged vaccine development efforts for other viruses such as HIV, influenza, and dengue, but global samples show SARS-CoV-2 to be less diverse than these viruses.
Scientists can therefore be cautiously optimistic that viral diversity should not be an obstacle for the development of a broadly protective vaccine against COVID-19 infection.
The team co-leads the institute’s COVID-19 response efforts, including the development of a vaccine against COVID-19.
The leading vaccine candidate is built on a Spike Ferritin Nanoparticle platform and is expected to enter human testing before 2021.
The research institute was established 127 years ago to combat these types of health threats and has played a role in the development of nearly half of the vaccines in public use today.
One author of the study is Morgane Rolland, chief of viral genetics and systems serology for the WRAIR Military HIV Research Program.
The study is published in PNAS.
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