TPL wrote:Unfortunately it is very logical and quite possibly true. The most transmissible mutations will survive while the less tarnsmissible will disappear. That is natural selection, isn't it? Just this way, not an opposite.
I'm not a doctor but I think I can answer in laymans terms - real PhDs can probably give a deeper answer ...
... my understanding is, a vaccine would block the spikes from binding - it doesn't necessarily cause them to release their RNA prematurely. This would require creating a protein that perfectly matches the ACE-2 entry receptors of the human body, so you would continue to see infections - since the virus would either bind with a pseudo-ACE-2 receptor, OR an actual cell wall. If it were even possible (and that's not necessarily how coronavirus works), something like that would merely slow the infection rate - but perhaps let asymptomatic people spread the disease for a longer period before succumbing to it themselves.
Having pseudo-ACE-2 receptor proteins floating in the body would probably cause some other issues - for one, these would bind to whatever other healthy molecules our cells use -either denying the body of nutrients, or preventing our cells from expelling waste products efficiently, and in chemical signaling, they could adversely effect patients' cardiovascular systems as ACE-2 binding sites in heart regulate blood pressure, and all sort of other bodily functions.
Once blocked by a vaccine, free-floating "blocked" viruses are dealt with by the bodies immune systems while it "learns" to seek out future infections - the creation of anti-bodies. Vaccines give the body extra time to react to the virus before it's allowed to infect and damage large numbers of cells - causing inflammation, and leading to co-morbid conditions like bacterial pneumonia.
Anti-virals on the other hand, actually "treat" already infected cells. These are called Protease Inhibitors which prevent the virus from maturing properly once they egress (released from the infected cell). The infected cell still dies, BUT the viruses it manufactures are essentially made non-viable (inert).
It's very complicated, because any foreign agent in the body that may block coronavirus, has a chance of interfering with healthy cells - that's why new drugs can take years, and cost billions of dollars to develop.
From what I've read, novel coronavirus is somewhat unique, in that it's very good at avoiding detection by the human body's immune system after initially being contracted.