Study uncovers the evolutionary dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 at primary stage of massive vaccination

This article is forms part of a special issue on "research on prevention and control of emerging infectious diseases" https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/biosafety-and-health/vol/4/issue/4.

This study uncovers the evolutionary dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 and epidemiological characteristics of COVID-19 at the primary stage of massive vaccination.

Although stringent non-pharmacological interventions and massive vaccination were implemented, the pandemic continues. Vaccination breakthrough infection and reinfection in convalescent COVID-19 cases were reported. Further, SARS-CoV-2 variants emerged and exhibited a trend of immune escape. The question that if the vaccination drives genetic or antigenic drifts of SARS-CoV-2 remains elusive.

Vaccination coverage was negatively related to the infections, severe cases, and deaths of COVID-19, respectively, at the primary stage of massive vaccination. Additionally, with the increasing vaccination coverage, the lineage diversity of SARS-CoV-2 dampened, but the rapid mutation rates (i.e. genetic drift) of the S gene were identified. The vaccination could be one of the explanations for lowering the genetic diversity but driving genetic drift in the S gene of SARS-CoV-2. The resurged new epidemics in several countries (e.g., USA and UK) with high vaccination coverage, questioned their pandemic control strategies and highlighted the cruciality of integrated vaccination and non-pharmacological interventions.

This study suggests massive vaccination could be one of the explanations for driving SARS-CoV-2 evolution and lowering its genetic diversity. This study suggests integrated vaccination and non-pharmacological interventions and a highly effective vaccine design to curb disease severity and infection possibility.