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Since the emergence of several new variants of COVID-19 around the world, scientists have been quick to understand their impact on vaccines.
Early laboratory experiments showed worrying signs that one variant, the one that originated in South Africa, could become a big problem. And now, two large experiments on thousands of people have confirmed that our current approach to vaccines is unlikely to be as effective against this particular variant.
But it’s not all bad news, scientists say. Against the South African variant, also known as B1.351, an excellent vaccine that is more than 90% effective against the disease is still a very good vaccine that can save your life.
The first flurry of potentially troubling news came from Moderna and Pfizer, both with COVID-19 vaccines licensed by the Food and Drug Administration. Working in a lab, these companies found clues that their vaccines might not work as well against mutations in the South African variant. Still, these lab studies were difficult to discern, their full impact unclear.
But then more concrete data came from studies in people. A large study by the pharmaceutical company Novavax, one of the six Operation Warp Speed companies that has yet to gain clearance from the FDA, showed that the vaccine was approximately 90% effective when tested in the UK, but only 50% effective when tested in South Africa. , where the B1.351 variant is dominant.
These results, the first large study in people, weighed heavily on some scientists. Almost all vaccines that have been licensed or are in an advanced stage of development target the spike protein of the parent virus. The South African variant contains mutations within that crucial target.
“I think the data implies that other vaccines using the wild-type spike protein or its sequence will be downgraded by its efficacy against the South African variant,” said Akiko Iwasaki, Ph.D., an immunologist at Yale University.
“It is fair to assume [Novovax’s results] it would be similar for all vaccines because they all point to the peak, but we shouldn’t be scared either, “said Angela Rasmussen, Ph.D., a virologist at the Georgetown Center for Global Health Science and Safety in Washington, DC
The next day, pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson, which was testing its own still experimental one-shot vaccine, found similar results. Their vaccine was 72% effective in the United States, but only 57% in South Africa.
“All vaccines are likely to show substantially less efficacy against the strain that originated in South Africa,” said Dr. Dan Barouch, Ph.D., director of the Virology and Vaccine Research Center at Beth Israel Medical Center in Boston .
Major vaccine manufacturers have announced plans to develop an updated version of their vaccines, adjusted to address the specific mutations found in the South African variant.
“All vaccine manufacturers are doing what they should – getting to work testing reformulated vaccines that should work against the variants,” Rasmussen said.
“The best way to combat this variant is to use the variant’s spike proteins as an antigen,” Akiko said.
But experts say that while they are less effective against the South African variant, current vaccines are likely to save your life if you become infected.
In a recent trial, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, for example, was 85% effective in preventing serious illness and hospitalizations, regardless of variant.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease physician, said the average American should focus on the effectiveness of vaccines against serious diseases, despite the inclination to want to know whether a vaccine will prevent you from getting sick. .
In a call with reporters, he said the most important thing “is to keep people out of the hospital and prevent them from getting seriously ill.”
Other experts agree that we should focus more on preventing hospitalizations and death, and less on mild infections.
“Obviously it’s not fun to have a mild illness,” said Dr. Paul Offit, a member of the FDA’s advisory committee, director of the Center for Vaccine Education and professor of pediatrics in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
“But the real question is, how effective was it in keeping people out of the hospital?” Offit said. “From the point of view of making a vaccine for this pandemic, its goal is to keep people out of the hospital and out of the morgue.”
Stephanie Ebbs of ABC News contributed to this report.
