Coronavirus spreads. But don't panic! (topical thread)

[Tres Leches]

@Thumpalumpacus I didn't locate anything comparing the coronavirus's and influenza's mutation rates but it seems influenza also rapidly mutates.

One of influenza virus’s main weapons is actually a double-edged sword.
The virus’s ability to rapidly mutate lets it escape from the immune system’s memory and explains why people can be repeatedly re-infected with flu – unlike measles or polio.

The Flu Virus’s Ability to Mutate May Sometimes Be Its Downfall | HHMI

The above reminds me of another big difference between the coronavirus and the influenza virus. Every year, the vaccine makers try to predict what flu strains will be dominant (sometimes they make a good prediction and sometimes they biff it) and then manufacture vaccines for those particular strains. The coronavirus vaccines haven't changed at all since the beginning. They were all tested on coronavirus 1.0 while we're on variant of concern 5.0. 
There was talk at the end of November by the vaccine manufacturers that they would have a vaccine for the new variant "within 100 days". I bet some people actually believed them, too. (And why wasn't this done for the more deadly Delta variant?)