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It’s been hard to make sense of the headlines on COVID lately.
Just in the past weeks, we’ve seen ones like, “New strain detected in Israel” or “California’s new strain reduces immune response.”
Others have warned of a surge of “dangerous” variants and even “super mutations” that might evade vaccines.
But much of this kind of conversation is misguided, argues one of the nation's top virology experts.
“The narrative is screwed up in a way,” says Vincent Racaniello, a professor of microbiology and immunology at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University. For one, he says, there is only one known