The coronavirus vaccines rolled out in Britain work better against the Brazilian variant (photo) than was first feared
Research suggests that the coronavirus vaccines being rolled out in Britain are better against the Brazilian variant than first feared.
A study from Oxford University found that the vaccine and jab made by Pfizer performed just as well against the P.1 strain that first appeared in Manaus as against the Kent variant. .
The vaccines, which were already in the arms of 25 million Britons, have been shown to be very effective against the British dominant Kent tribe, reducing deaths and hospitals by more than 85 per cent.
Scientists initially feared that the P.1 variant would be resistant to vaccines, as it has a number of worrying mutations in addition to those it shares with the Kent strain.
There have been 12 cases of the Brazilian variant in the UK so far – nine in England and three in Scotland. All the patients had direct or indirect travel connections to Brazil.
The study exposed blood samples from vaccines to different Covid variants and monitored their antibody response.
The vaccines are found to produce almost three times less antibodies against the Kent and Brazilian variants compared to the original species. According to the researchers, it is still more than enough to neutralize the viruses.
However, the jabs stimulated up to nine times less antibodies when exposed to the South African variant, which was detected in hundreds of people in the United Kingdom.
But antibodies are not the only part of Covid’s immune response – white blood cells also play an important role, which means that even if vaccines do not produce a strong antibody response, they must still prevent serious diseases.
More than 25 million Britons had at least one dose from the University of Oxford / AstraZeneca or Pfizer / BioNTech.
According to official data that provides even more evidence that the vaccines are alive, the daily deaths from coronavirus in Britain are declining faster than when the first wave began to decline.
Vaccinators had earlier said that the jabs would still prevent the vast majority of people from getting sick with the strain.
They claim that in the few vaccines it will still catch, their symptoms will diminish to ‘the sniff’.
Professor Gavin Screaton, a medical expert who led the research, said: ‘This study expands our understanding of the role of changes in the protein of the peak in the escape of the human immune response, measured as neutralizing antibody levels.
‘The results indicate that P1 is less resistant to immune responses to vaccine and recovery (Covid infection) than B1351 (South Africa) and similar to B117 (Kent).’
The study used blood samples from people with natural antibodies generated by a Covid-19 infection and from those whose antibodies were caused by the Oxford or Pfizer vaccines.
It found an almost threefold decrease in the level of virus neutralization by the antibodies generated by the Oxford and Pfizer vaccines for the Kent and Brazilian variants compared to an original strain.
“These data suggest that antibodies caused by natural vaccines can still neutralize these variants, but at lower levels,” the university said.
“It is important that the P1 ‘Brazilian’ strain is less resistant to these antibodies than first feared.”
The vaccines struggled more with the South African variant, with a sevenfold reduction in the level of virus neutralization of the Oxford vaccine and a reduction of nine times for Pfizer’s.
Professor Andrew Pollard, lead researcher on the Oxford University vaccine trial, said: ‘These further efforts to investigate the link between changes in the virus and human immunity provide new insights that help us to be prepared to respond to further challenges to our health due to the pandemic. virus, if we have to do it. ‘
Cases of the Brazilian and South African variants have been found in the UK, with Covid testing on the rise to prevent its spread.
Data on public health in England show that there were 344 cases of the South African tribe and 12 cases of the Brazilian version.
The agency has six variants that are being ‘investigated’, including tribes from the Philippines and Antigua and several that have produced in the UK.
It has four more that it describes as ‘variants of concern’. They are: the current dominant Kent tribe (B.1.1.7); one imported from Brazil (P.1), the South African variant (B.1.351), and one version of the Kent tribe that developed further that emerged in Bristol.
Despite new variants appearing frequently in the UK and around the world, top scientists have warned against being ‘obsessed’ with mutant viruses.
All the major vaccine manufacturers say that they are confident that they will be very effective against all emerging strains.
Oxford University researchers said a single strain was unlikely to make vaccines significantly weaker in the next year.
Instead, they say the chances are greater that a series of evolutions over many months or even years may eventually make the current crop of jabs less powerful.
But vaccines can be modified within weeks, and regulators in the UK, US and EU have enacted laws, meaning new scheme vaccines can be followed quickly after approval.