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Pfizer and BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine appears effective against mutations, according to a new study.
Sebastian Gollnow / Picture Alliance via Getty Image
- The Pfizer vaccine triggers a strong response against two prominent variants of Covid-19, according to a new study.
- The variants, which were first found in the UK and South Africa, raised fears that vaccines might not work on them.
- The study appears to disprove that theory, but the results are preliminary and have not yet been peer-reviewed.
- Visit Business Insider for more stories.
The Pfizer vaccine could protect against new variants of the coronavirus, according to data from a new study cited by The Guardian.
The vaccine led to promising results when it was tested against two variants widely feared by health experts, one first found in the UK and one first found in South Africa.
The study involved testing the vaccine using blood samples from vaccinated people, rather than studying the effects on the people themselves.
The Oxford scientists exposed the samples to each of the virus variants. They used samples from both people who had received one dose of the vaccine and people who had taken both.
The data, published here, has not been peer-reviewed, which means that experts will likely treat it with caution.
However, it showed that after two doses of the vaccine, the immune response was substantial.
William James, an Oxford professor who worked on the data, told The Guardian that the answer was “on the kind of level that neutralizes the virus.”
James said his team is “pretty confident” that those who received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine will be protected from infection by the variants, The Guardian said.
James continued: “This virus hasn’t finished evolving, but I think as long as vaccines are implemented and people get those second doses, we will be in a much better position for the summer than we are now.”
One dose of the vaccine boosted the response to the virus, but not very strongly.
This suggests that it is “really important” that people get their second dose of the vaccine, Deborah Dunn-Walters, a professor of immunology at the University of Surrey, told The Guardian.
The data are encouraging, but more data is likely needed to determine if the Pfizer vaccine will work against these new viruses.
A question that could change the course of the pandemic
Whether vaccines will work against the newer variants is a matter of great concern around the world.
Vaccines were developed and tested when new variants had not yet emerged. Since then, the virus has been evolving.
New variants often involve changes in the peak protein region of the virus, which is the crucial segment against which vaccines work.
See also: SA can still trade, or sell, its 1 million AstraZeneca vaccines, says Mkhize
The fear is that the mutations could mean that vaccines can no longer recognize the virus and therefore can no longer protect against Covid-19. In that case, new vaccines would have to be developed.
Two of these variants, the South African and UK variants, are of concern to experts.
The AstraZeneca vaccine appears to work against the UK variant, but data emerging from South Africa suggest that the vaccine would not protect against mild to moderate disease of the South African variant, as reported by Insider’s Dr Catherine Shuster-Bruce.
See also: SA pivots and 80,000 doses of J&J vaccine to be delivered next week, as WHO says to use AstraZeneca
This is even more concerning because both variants are spreading rapidly around the world. The variant first detected in the UK is spreading across the US, and the variant identified in South Africa outperformed other variants of the disease in four US states, including California, the governor said Wednesday. Gavin Newsom.
As long as the virus can circulate among unvaccinated people, it will continue to mutate and potentially learn to evade the protection provided by the vaccine being distributed at this time, reported Insider’s Andrew Dunn, Aria Bendix and Hilary Brueck.
Scientists are working on ways to stay ahead of mutations, including mixing approved vaccine injections and developing new generations of vaccines.
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