With regard to the preliminary findings on Wednesday, this contributes to increasing evidence that a coronavirus variant that was first identified in South Africa escapes the neutralization ability by antibodies in recovery plasma.
Findings were posted before peer-review on the bioRxiv website by several universities in South Africa and the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) of the National Health Laboratory Service.
The 501Y.V2 variant involves nine mutations on the vein protein of the virus, which the virus uses to infect cells. This worries scientists because recently developed vaccines and therapeutic agents target proteins, which raises concerns that changes may affect the effectiveness of treatments and vaccines. Scientists believe that the recently approved vaccines are effective against the British variant, although research on the variant, which was first identified in South Africa, is ongoing.
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Earlier this week, researchers said the South African tribe was 50% more contagious, and that it had been detected in more than 20 countries since the end of December, the World Health Organization said in a statement. No cases of stress have been reported in the US, although it may be under surveillance.
Recovering plasma with antibodies from patients with coronavirus recovered is being administered to sick patients to fight infection, and the treatment already has emergency consent in the United States. best to apply it.
In preliminary findings published Wednesday, researchers said the mutated strain almost evades the protection afforded by plasma treatment if it is not prevented.
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“This genus shows a complete escape from three classes of therapeutically relevant monoclonal antibodies,” the findings read. “Furthermore, 501Y.V2 shows a significant or complete escape of neutralizing antibodies in COVID-19 recovery plasma.”
Researchers said the data highlighted the risk of re-infection, and that it could predict the diminished effectiveness of current vein-based vaccination. The team tested the recovery plasma of coronavirus patients against the 501Y.V2 strain, and 48% of the 44 samples had no detectable neutralizing activity, the authors of the study wrote.
“These data also have implications for the efficacy of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, which are primarily based on immune responses to the protein,” the paper said, urging “rapidly adaptable vaccine design platforms and the need for to identify less. variable viral targets for integration into future immunogens. “
Separate research conducted on Tuesday also suggested that mRNA vaccines (such as those developed by Pfizer and Moderna) need updates to maintain efficacy against new strains.
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Pfizer had earlier told Fox News that the company, along with BioNTech, had chosen an mRNA platform for its now-authorized vaccine because of the flexibility the technology offers. “This flexibility includes the ability to alter the RNA sequence in the vaccine to cover new strains of the virus, should any ever emerge that are not well covered by the current vaccine,” reads an email statement.
In the findings published Tuesday, a team, including scientists from Rockefeller University, took blood samples from 20 volunteers who received the vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna, and tested their antibodies against various virus mutations in the laboratory.
In some, the antibodies did not work as well against the virus – the activity was one to three times less, depending on the mutation, the study leader, dr. Michel Nussenzweig, Rockefeller said.
“It’s a small difference, but it’s definitely a difference,” he said. The antibody response is “not so good” at blocking the virus.
“We do not want people to think that the current vaccine is already obsolete. That is absolutely not true,” E. John Wherry, an immunology expert at the University of Pennsylvania, told the Associated Press. “There is still immunity … a good level of protection,” but the mutations “actually diminish how well our immune response recognizes the virus.”
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Meanwhile, Pfizer and BioNTech have published a new study that provides more evidence that their COVID-19 vaccine is effective against the British variant which is believed to be more contagious.
The study, which was published on the preprint server bioRxiv and has not yet undergone peer review, analyzed blood samples from eight people in the 18-55 age group and eight people in the 56-85 age group.
The researchers found that the Pfizer vaccine offered ‘no biologically significant difference in neutralizing activity compared to’ the original COVID-19 strain and the British variant.
While this is good news, researchers wrote: “The ongoing evolution of SARS-CoV-2 requires constant monitoring of the importance of changes to the protection afforded by currently authorized vaccines.”
Fox News has asked Pfizer to comment on the findings of Rockefeller’s researchers.
Associated Press and Paul News, Paul Best, contributed to this report.