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Significance
Viruses mutate when they multiply and often the changes do not affect their behaviour significantly. However, changes that allow them to infect better, evade immune defences or both may give rise to variants that ensure better survival for the virus, raising questions about the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Impacts
Vaccination rates differ between countries and travel may remain disrupted to/from low-vaccination areas.
Vaccine passports may become routine, but may not be a viable solution to protection against new variants and outbreaks.
Vaccine politics may favour immunising majority populations in some countries rather than equitable distribution across the world.
© Oxford Analytica 2021. All rights reserved. This content contains general information about geopolitical, macroeconomic and social developments or (where stated) other matters. It does not contain advice or recommendations that may be relied on. Where links to external websites are provided, this does not indicate that Oxford Analytica or Emerald agree with, endorse or have checked for accuracy the contents of said sites.
2021
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