@2389Champ
A note of reassurance for all those concerned about mutations.
Sars Cov 2 is a clever virus as it has a spell checker that stops mutations being released. What mutations have occured have all been changes around the spike protein. For a new mutation to take off it has to be more transmissable than the virus it is replacing. The Delta mutation is very very transmissable so mutation surplantation is unlikely, and if they do occur there is a strong likelihood the current vaccines will be protective. That doesnt mean we should not do genome testing on specimens but following the UK's lead, many countries are doing this and that is how we get the data. Uger Sahin, the brains behind the mRNA vaccine has suggested he can produce a new vaccine if necessary in a matter of weeks. So the concern about mutations is falling. Finally mutations arise from long periods of infection in one host ie in immunosuppressed people, and are not related to volume per se. So the benefits to the west from vaccinating the rest of the world relate more to economic growth from re establishing trade than preventing mutation.
Also it takes a considerable amount of time for a mutation to occur (add in a dealy for it then be detected), to when we find it of concern and then to when it actually becomes a real issue.
Delta was detected in India (which is sequencing much less than the UK) in October 2020. It peaked there in April.
We also know which parts of the genome are more problematic now, so will be able to spot dodgy looking genomes earlier. And we have better production capacity for vaccines than we did back at the start of 2020 when we had massive supply problems.
We roll out the flu vaccine annually on the basis of what happens the other side of the world six months earlier because we have the knowledge and ability to predict what is going to be the problem variant for our next winter.
Arguably we are now at the same point for covid going forward - keeping in mind that we also know that covid mutates less frequently.
In terms of mass testing to detect problem mutations its kind of pointless because the only ones we need be concerned about are the ones putting a lot of people in hospital or killing them. So as long as we monitor severe cases and any emerging new mutations causing problems, we should be ok at this point (i believe the uk tests samples from cases abroad too). The argument about testing travellers also falls down with this too. Anything thats more transmissable / severe than Delta is going to be spotted pretty damn quickly and even then we have some time to be able to react to these changes before they become too widespread. Given what we know about delta, if we do have a mutations more transmissable then trying to contain it is going to be pretty bloody useless so we have to accept that everywhere will get it as an inevitability - we can't 'keep it out'.
I was worried about mutations but where we are now (like so many other covid variables) is massively removed from where we were. Its not a concern that I think worth losing sleep over.
I am more worried about other completely novel viruses coming through instead as a bigger threat. We'd be better investing money spent on the mass sequencing assymptomatic cases and minor illness cases on more general virus research now.