If the mutation occurs in important virus genes (such as S protein, RNA polymerase or other key virus proteins related to replication, etc. ), the viability of future generations of viruses will be weakened and replaced by wild-type viruses with stronger viability.
Combined with what I mentioned above, the mutation of coronavirus is slower than that of other RNA viruses, so it takes time to mutate the key virus genes of coronavirus.
The research and development of vaccines and drugs are designed for the key genes and antigens of the virus, so the risk of virus mutation to vaccine and drug research and development at this stage is small.
In the long run, it is indeed a great challenge to develop antiviral drugs through virus mutation. However, the team of the State Key Laboratory of Virology of Wuhan University opened up new ideas in the research process and independently developed a series of antiviral candidate drugs for host proteins. These drugs are not affected by virus mutation, but also effective against wild-type and mutant viruses, which can avoid the mutation of virus resistance. I think this is a promising research strategy.
Of course, after the successful development and wide application of vaccines and targeted virus drugs, we should continue to observe and study the immune escape and drug resistance caused by virus mutations for a long time.