A research team from the University of Oxford announced on Thursday that the AstraZeneca and Pfizer BioNTech vaccines against the coronavirus could offer more protection against the so-called Brazilian strain than was initially thought.
The study has not yet been peer-reviewed and was conducted by the university involved in the development of the AstraZeneca survey.
The researchers found that the vaccines provide protection against the Brazilian P1 coronavirus variant, which first became dominant in the Amazon city of Manaus, as it is less resistant to antibodies.
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“These data suggest that antibodies caused by natural vaccines may still neutralize these variants, but at lower levels,” the researchers told Sky News. “What is important is that the P1 ‘Brazilian’ strain is less resistant to these antibodies than was first feared.”
In these December 13, 2020 file photos, boxes containing the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine are ready to be shipped to the Pfizer Global Supply Kalamazoo plant in Portage, Michigan (AP Photo / Morry Gash, Pool, File)
The study used blood samples from people who had natural antibodies after being infected with the coronavirus, as well as those who received the Pfizer-BioNTech or AstraZeneca vaccinations.
‘The results suggest that P1 may be less resistant to vaccine and recovery of immune responses than B1351 [South Africa], and similar to B117 [UK], ”The prof. Gavin Screaton, chief scientist of the study, told the Guardian.
‘The level of virus neutralization has been found to have almost tripled against the antibodies generated by the Oxford and Pfizer vaccines. [UK] and Brazilian variants compared to the original strain, and a reduction of nine and 7.6 times, respectively, compared to the South African variant, ‘said Screaton.
Earlier this month, researchers from a study conducted by Pfizer-BioNTech and researchers from the University of Texas’ medical branch said that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine could defeat the Brazilian strain.
They wrote that the vaccine was about as effective against the Brazilian strain as against another mutation that originated in Britain and is now the most common strain in Israel, and ‘robust but lower’ in dealing with a southern African variant.
As countries around the world are in a hurry to vaccinate people, concerns have arisen that more transmissible variants may have greater resistance to existing vaccines.
Pfizer said in February it would test a new version of its vaccine to counter the South African variant, as well as the effectiveness of a third dose against other mutations.
Brazil has reported nearly 280,000 deaths due to the virus. Tolls have deteriorated recently, with the country averaging more than 1,800 deaths a day, while the health care systems of major cities are on the verge of collapse.
Agencies contributed to this report.
