In a small dissertation, the Pfizer / BioNtech vaccine fully protected people against symptomatic COVID-19 caused by the alarming B.1.351 coronavirus variant widely distributed in South Africa, the companies said in a press release. announced.
Although researchers need more information to confirm the outcome, this is just the last bit of positive news that appeared this week about the workings of the vaccines in the right conditions and in the right world.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released actual data on Monday showing that the Pfizer / BioNTech mRNA vaccine and Modern mRNA vaccine together were 90 percent effective in preventing infections in health care, frontline and emergency workers.
On Wednesday, Pfizer and BioNtech announced that their vaccine is very effective in adolescents aged 12 to 15 years – not just the adult population. And on Thursday, the companies announced the B.1.351 news as well as new data on sustainability. The latest monitoring data on people vaccinated in a phase III trial indicate that the vaccine is still 91 percent effective up to six months after the second dose to prevent symptomatic diseases. This is longer efficacy than previously determined, but researchers will need even more data to determine effectiveness over six months.
“The crux of the message is that vaccines work very well in the real world,” said the infectious infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci at a White House press conference on Friday, COVID-19. ‘They work against variants, although we need further data to confirm this. They are durable for at least six months and work in adolescents. Very, very good reason for everyone to be vaccinated as soon as it is available to you. ”
Strong suggestions
While all the data is good news, the variation data is particularly encouraging. Several laboratory experiments have suggested that antibodies produced by vaccines are less potent at repelling some of the variants, especially B.1.351. But according to new data released by Pfizer and BioNTech, their mRNA vaccine showed ‘100 percent effectiveness’.
The allegation is based on data from 800 participants in the trial who live in South Africa, where B.1.351 is widely distributed. Among the 800 participants, there were nine cases of COVID-19, all of which were in people receiving a placebo. Of these nine cases, genetic analysis found that six of them were caused by the B.1.351 variant.
The numbers are small, Fauci noted in today’s press conference. However, they showed that there were six cases in the placebo in the vicinity of the troublesome B.1.351 South African variant [group] and zero in the vaccinated group, which strongly suggests the efficacy of the vaccines we now use against problematic variants.
However, the National Institutes of Health announced earlier this week that the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has begun a clinical trial of a modified version of the Moderna vaccine, specifically designed to treat the B.1.351 variant te rig. At the time, Fauci, who is the director of the NIAID, said the trial was being conducted “out of caution”.
With the variant data and the findings on durability, Pfizer and BioNTech are now applying to have the vaccine fully approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Currently, the regulatory agency has only granted an emergency use authorization, which is a classification issued during public health emergencies and circumvents the need for the normal amount of data used to ensure complete approval. EUAs expire as soon as the state of emergency is over.
“This data confirms the favorable efficacy and safety profile of our vaccine and enables us to submit a Biologics License Application to the US FDA,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in the release. “The high vaccine efficacy observed up to six months after a second dose and in contrast to the variant found in South Africa offers further confidence in the overall efficacy of our vaccine.”