Not horrible or shocking, but concerning. Mutation is expected but the more strains there are the more likely one turns out to be unaffected by the vaccine and we find ourselves back at square one.
there is considerable selective pressure upon the spike protien, very large changes to this protien are not frequently viable, as the virus would need to find a new trophic target or a new host altogether.
We are tracking these changes closely and concommitantly can change the sequence of mRNA, responsively, and pre-emptively if desired.
I would hope that they could add coverage for new variants to the mRNA vaccines without having to go completely back to square one. Do they have to do full 3 phase testing on the flu vaccine every year?
first issue here is the differences in terminology regarding strains, vs variants.
strains are signifigantly different from each other, variants are a nuance on the same theme.
the virus strain that infects small mammals is separate from the trans specific strain that spilled over to humans.
the virus with small changes to the spike sequence altering spike structure or function is a variant.
under emergency conditions a 3phase trial is not mandatory , and would likely be a quick deliberation under normal conditions for small adjustments to the sequence, similar to seasonal influenza vaccines.