But nothing surprising about the emergence of variants that are worse for us. You let a virus incubate this widely, and it's bound to get some optimal mutations for it's spread.
The real question is going to be whether the vaccines we developed are able to stop this variant as well.
We do not know for sure and it is a complicated answer if our understanding of this new variant is a correct understanding of the reality
The short simple answer is yes. The mRNA vaccines of Pfizer and Moderna are specifically targeting the "old" spike protein and as long as the virus still has the "old" spike protein, even if it has multiple spike proteins then it is likely going to work. Yet if there is a mutation where they eliminate the "old" spike protein and only keep new versions of the spike protein the answer to this would be less certain whether the vaccine would work.
Other vaccines such as AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine is recombinant adenovirus vaccine. It is a modified virus that has a different shape than a coronavirus, adenovirus viruses are the source of the common cold, well this modified live cold virus has some of the COVID-19 virus grafted onto it, but I do not know what part of the virus like the Spike Protein or something else it is targeting with the AstraZeneca-Oxford Vaccine.
-----
Likewise for the other 100+ vaccines that are in development.
-----
The real answer is no one knows if the vaccines will be effective but they will likely be effective but it is better to get everyone vaccinated as soon as possible not just in your home country / state / city / etc, but also in the entire world for if the virus has no hosts we may be able to eradicate it like Smallpox. If we do not eradicate it, it may be with us forever for it will find ways to mutate and so on.
So pray that we get ahead of this problem and that we can use human ingenuity with vaccines and logistical deployment to solve this problem.
@ the Gov of New York *NM*