- In one study, Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine worked against coronary viruses produced by the laboratory, similar to variants distributed in the United Kingdom and South Africa.
- Small differences in the way the vaccine was performed against the mutations against the original virus would probably not lead to a significant reduction in efficacy.
- The Pfizer BioNTech vaccine has not yet been tested on the actual coronavirus variants.
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The drugmakers announced on Wednesday that the COVID-19 vaccine, developed in collaboration with Pfizer and BioNTech, is working with laboratory-produced coronavirus.
Studies conducted by Pfizer and the University of Texas have shown ‘small’ differences in how well antibodies produced by Pfizer’s vaccine bind and kill the laboratory viruses, compared to how well they work against the original virus.
But these differences are unlikely to lead to a significant decrease in vaccine efficacy, BioNTech said in a press release.
Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine was 95% effective against the original coronavirus in trials conducted in 2020.
In the new study, Pfizer tested three different “pseudoviruses” that he designed to detect some of the mutations in the UK and South Africa variants. The variant found in South Africa has a mutation called K417N, which has been shown in laboratory studies to elude antibodies. The laboratory-manufactured variant did not have this mutation.
The Pfizer researchers looked at how well antibodies work, which is one aspect of the immune system’s defenses against coronavirus. There is no agreement on how ‘protection against COVID-19’ is defined, the authors of the study said in the article, acknowledging that this is a weak point of the study.
The results come from a pre-print study and have yet to be published in a peer-reviewed journal to be examined by experts.
The variant found in the United Kingdom, B.1.1.7, has been found in several US states as well as in countries around the world. The variant that occurs in South Africa, 501Y.V2, has not yet been identified in the USA.
Pfizer said on January 20 that it had tested the vaccine on the variant found in the UK, and that it had worked in laboratory studies, but this latest research was the first test against the South African variant.
The sample size was small, and the scientists did not perform any tests for statistical significance, and this is one way researchers judge whether the results may be coincidental.
Moderna announced on Monday that the vaccine has been well maintained against B.1.1.7, the variant found in the UK, but on a small scale, laboratory tests have shown that the shot works less well against the variant found in South Africa, 501 .Y.V2, was found.
‘Gold standard’ would be to test to the actual variant
In the latest Pfizer study, scientists tested the pseudovirus against the antibodies in 12 blood samples from people who had received two shots of Pfizer’s vaccine two or four weeks earlier. They then looked at how well the antibodies work against the pseudovirus variants, compared to the original strain.
“The gold standard would be to test antibodies against the variant itself to understand how their unique constellation of mutations can affect the natural immunity or protection against a vaccine,” said Dr. Jason McLellan, a structural biologist at the University of Texas, said in Austin. Wall Street Journal. McLellan studied how coronavirus proteins interact with antibodies, but was not involved in the Pfizer study.
Rafael Casellas, a molecular immunologist at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), told the Journal that it is important to monitor the coronavirus variants and evaluate whether vaccines and other treatments need to be updated, or that shots are needed .
“We can not take this virus lightly,” he said. “We just do not have enough information, so we have to be careful.”
We do not know how long immunity lasts after receiving a vaccine for coronavirus variants or the original virus.
Pfizer said Tuesday it is already working on booster shots that protect against coronavirus variants. Moderna said on Monday that it would develop a new version of its COVID-19 shot to combat 501.Y.V2, the variant in South Africa.
“Pfizer and BioNTech will continue to monitor emerging SARS-CoV-2 strains and conduct studies to monitor the actual efficacy of the vaccine,” the companies said.