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TESTED: Pfizer / BioNTech is in the process of testing their corona vaccine against the new variant that has been discovered in the UK. Photo: PATRICK T. FALLON / AFP
BioNTech says they can “modify” the corona vaccine to be able to handle new virus mutations and start production in as little as six weeks, if necessary.
This is stated by the company, which has developed its vaccine in collaboration with Pfizer, following concerns about a new variant of coronavirus that has begun to spread in the United Kingdom.
Ugur Sahin, head of BioNTech, believes that the existing vaccine will be effective against the new mutated variant.
– I do not think that it’s necessary. But if necessary, the beauty of mRNA technology is that we can immediately start developing a vaccine that is exactly like this new mutation and start producing it in six weeks, he tells the Financial Times.
The Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine has been approved as the first corona vaccine in EU countries, and it is the one that is likely to reach Norway first.
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In testing process
Sahin informs CNN that the company is in the process of evaluating how its vaccine works in the new mutated variant.
He says he has “scientific certainty” that the vaccine will continue to work against the variant.
“It is very likely that the vaccine also inactivates this virus, because it must be taken into account that although nine amino acids have been altered in this protein, 99 percent of the protein does not change,” says Sahin.
He says that BioNTech has already established that parts of the immune response are not affected by the mutation.
– We have already evaluated the areas where we have observed the response of the T cells to the spike protein, and we see that all the areas where we have seen the response of the T cells are still taken care of. So that’s a good sign. This means that at least part of the immune system is not affected by the mutation.
He estimates to the Financial Times that it will take about two weeks to complete the investigation that confirms or denies whether the vaccine works as effectively against the new variant.
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Unfolded
The vaccine was approved Monday and Pfizer / BioNTech is working to produce and deliver vaccines as quickly as possible.
Part of the reason it will possibly take time to produce a separate vaccine against the new mutation is that this will also need approval.
BioNTech has emphasized that they do not yet know for sure whether the vaccine prevents infection in addition to protecting against covid-19 disease, but says they expect to have definitive data on this by February.
The company expects to deliver 45 million doses by the end of the year, including 12.5 million for the EU.
Norway receives 2.5 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, of which 550,000 in the first quarter.
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Fear of double infection
It is also unclear whether the new variant of the virus can infect people who have already had and have recovered from the original corona variant.
The National Institute of Public Health tells NRK they fear a possible double infection. A change in the molecule means that the antibodies don’t bind as well if antibodies have been produced against the common virus, says lead researcher Olav Hungnes.
– Then you can get it again. This is something to watch out for, says the researcher.
Hungnes says that it is common for the virus to form into new variants, but that this new corona variant is different from previous mutations seen so far.
– The new mutation is probably already here, but not with a spread that has something to do with it, estimates.
