A coronavirus variant first detected in Brazil poses less of a threat to vaccines developed by AstraZeneca and Pfizer than researchers were initially concerned, according to new findings announced Thursday by the University of Oxford.
“The results indicate that P1 [the Brazil variant] may be less resistant to immune responses to vaccine and recovery then B1351, and similar to B117, “said Professor Gavin Screaton, lead scientist on the study, in part in a release published by Oxford University on Thursday.
A large team of researchers at Oxford University this week posted the findings before peer review in the bioRxiv server. The University of Oxford has developed one of the vaccines studied in collaboration with AstraZeneca, which last week abandoned several European countries and ordered temporary suspension of AstraZeneca vaccinations amid reports of blood clotting. The European regulator, the European Medicines Agency, on Thursday convened a safety committee to discuss the data and plans to communicate any steps if necessary.
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In the previous study, researchers noted that the variants of Brazil (P.1), South Africa (B.1.351) and the United Kingdom share mutations at the binding site of the virus, and suggested mutations located elsewhere may take into account with the different impact on neutralization.
“We show that P.1 is, surprisingly, significantly less resistant to naturally acquired or vaccine-induced responses than B.1.351, suggesting that changes outside the RBD [receptor binding domain] neutralizing the impact, “authors of the study wrote.
Researchers looked at more than 30 blood samples from previously infected individuals and 50 other blood samples from those vaccinated with Pfizer or AstraZeneca.
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The results indicated that the Brazil and UK strains had a similar triple reduction in neutralization ability for the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines. The South African variant, in comparison, had a much larger impact, leading to a reduction in the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccine neutralization capacity of 7.6 and 9-fold, respectively.
In terms of natural protection against previous infection, the Brazilian and UK strains again led to a similar triple reduction, compared to a 13.3-fold decrease by the South African variant.
“These data suggest that antibodies induced by natural and vaccine may still neutralize these variants, but at lower levels,” according to the release.
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Separate studies have previously suggested that the South African variant reduced the neutralizing ability of the Pfizer vaccine by about two-thirds, while Moderna saw a six-fold reduction in neutralizing antibodies.
“These further efforts to investigate the link between changes in the virus and human immunity provide new insights that help us be prepared to respond to further health challenges posed by the pandemic virus, if we have to do so,” Andrew Pollard, chief investigator at Oxford University’s vaccine trial, said in the release.