Virologists have noticed that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has mutated significantly, but slowly. One of the key changes experts have pinpointed is the mutation called D614G which they say “is increasing at an alarming rate.”  It’s now the dominant form of SARS-CoV-2 in Europe, the U.S., Canada, and Australia.

According to Nature, while this appears to be a more transmissible form of the coronavirus, D614G could also mean that a vaccine can target SARS-CoV-2 more easily. “The jury’s out,” said Timothy Sheahan, an expert on coronaviruses from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “This mutation might mean something, or it might not.”

While the coronavirus mutates more slowly than other viruses, such as HIV and influenza, it has still shown more than 12,000 variations according to scientific data. Experts said that these changes in the virus most likely damage rather than improve its ability to spread. In fact, some scientists said that the emphasis and importance placed on the discovery of D614G is premature. While lab tests say that the mutation does appear to make the virus more infectious, skeptics say that what happens in a controlled lab setting does not always translate to the human experience, according to Nature.

According to an article in Cell, experts from Yale School of Public Health and Columbia Mailman School of Public Health said that while the impact of D614G is still unknown, “the mutation should be taken into consideration for any vaccine or therapeutic design.”