Vaccines may protect against severe disease even as Covid variants evolve, says Oxford's Pollard

The head of the Oxford Vaccine Group said that it's likely over time that the virus will find ways of adapting to continue survival.

Covid-19 vaccines might offer protection against severe disease even as coronavirus variants evolve to better allow continued transmission between people, the head of the Oxford Vaccine Group Andrew Pollard said on Wednesday.

A healthcare worker fills a syringe with a dose of Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine called COVAXIN, during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination campaign at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) hospital in New Delhi, India, January 16, 2021. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi (REUTERS)

Asked how effective the Oxford/AstraZeneca will be against new variants, he said "they are making changes that allow them to avoid human immune responses, so that they can still transmit."

"So, that does mean that it's likely over time that the virus will find ways of adapting so that can continue to pass between people," he told BBC TV.

"But that doesn't mean that we won't still have protection against severe disease... The virus is much more about the virus being able to continue to survive, rather than trying to cause harm to us."