While many government officials are saying the rollout of new vaccines created to mitigate the spread and effects of the coronavirus are moving too slowly we really need to just stop and recognize how quickly these medicines were developed and approved. In my mind, it is nothing short of a miracle how quickly scientists were able to identify what was necessary to, if not stop the coronavirus, at least slow it down.

Now, besides the availability of the vaccines comes the concern that the virus is mutating. This could compromise the effectiveness of the current vaccines. However, healthcare officials in Louisiana say the medicines created by Pfizer and Moderna should handle the change in strain just fine.

Assistant Dean for Translational Science at LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine, Doctor Lucio Miele told the Louisiana Radio Network, 

There is no need for panic at this time. The mutants that have been described up to now would still be covered by the available vaccine.

Dr. Miele went on to say that the reason we get an annual flu vaccination is because of viral mutations. So, these changes in the virus strains are not necessarily unexpected.

Dr. Miele in his comments to LRN explained that while the mutated strains of coronavirus that have been found in Great Britain and South Africa are more contagious they don't apparently affect the body as severely as COVID-19. Dr. Miele noted that scientists are monitoring the mutations in the virus and future vaccines will likely be modified to address those changes.

Meanwhile, vaccinations for select groups of citizens across the state and the nation will continue today. As hopefully, we can get more and more people in a better physical position to deal with and defeat this deadly virus so we can get back to what is lovingly referred to as "normal".

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