Dr. Tony Holohan:

Again, in principle, the answer to that question is "Yes". Several factors contribute to the risk of the emergence of a variant. One factor is the total volume of infection, that is, the number of opportunities the virus has to transmit. That gives it an opportunity to mutate each time. The more transmission, the more such opportunities there are. One thing we do not yet fully understand is whether the virus is passing in and out of certain animal hosts, which might be giving opportunities for variants to emerge. In areas with low vaccination uptake, the opportunity for the virus to spread is much greater and that certainly might contribute to that risk at a global level. There are circumstances in which chronic infection in people who may have certain immune deficiencies can present the virus with opportunities to mutate. It is a general principle in the context of global control of this disease as well as our protection of our population in this country that the more people we can get vaccinated with vaccines that we know work, the more of a contribution we are making globally as well as locally to protecting ourselves from the effects of this disease. In principle, the answer to the Senator's question is "Yes".