“This Week in Virology” podcast addressed this mutation issue just last week. Basically 20 out of 30,000+ genes have mutated. This is one of the slowest viral mutations, 5x slower than seasonal influenza. While most viruses tend to become milder as mutations and transmission happens, SARS-CoV-2 mutates so slow that the mortality will be high for quite some time. The good news is that a vaccine should provide long-lasting protection more like the measles shot rather than an annual flu vaccine that is hit or miss.