The international medical community has announced the development and release of effective vaccines as one of the major milestones in the coronavirus pandemic, creating optimism that an end to the worst days of the disease. But it was not long after vaccinations began to develop that variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus were discovered around the world that made it more contagious than the previous dominant strain – as well as raising questions about how the mutations can affect how well the vaccines work. A new study has suggested that the COVID vaccine or the natural immunity in patients who have already recovered from the disease cannot be protected against the new virus strain. Read on to see what researchers say could put you at risk, and if you have this subtle symptom, you may have already had COVID.
Antibodies have been shown to be ineffective against one variant.
The study, which was previously published and has not yet been peer-reviewed, took blood from 44 patients who recovered from COVID-19 before September, that is when the South African strain of the virus was first discovered, CNN reports. Disturbingly, researchers found that half of the patients were not protected by their natural antibodies against the variant – officially named SARS-CoV-2 501Y.V2, which raises concerns that vaccines also do not protect against the strain.
“I think we should be concerned,” Penny Moore, PhD, associate professor at the National Institute of Communicable Diseases in South Africa and the senior author of the study. “We saw a knockout blow. It was a narrow result.”
More severe COVID cases generate a better immune response.
The findings showed that antibodies for about half of the 44 subjects could not protect themselves against re-infection of the virus. However, the other half of the subjects, who experienced severe cases of COVID during their initial infection, saw a weakened but not completely reduced immune response to the new strain, thanks to their original increased antibody response.
Researchers have also found that two mutations on the surface of the South African tribe directly affect nails used as grafts. “Based on Penny’s data, it’s likely that the vaccine will be somewhat less effective, but how much less effective we do not know,” David Montefiori, PhD, a virologist at Duke University Medical Center, told CNN. And for more information on how to keep yourself safe, go to If you do not, your mask will not protect you, says study.
Researchers are now testing the vaccine.
With the potential vulnerability exposed, researchers are now continuing to investigate how the development could reduce the effectiveness of vaccines. But many fear that the evidence is currently suggesting that there is a serious problem: “I have no reason to think that the results in people who have been vaccinated will be different from those who have been infected before,” Montefiori told CNN said.
Others point out that there are now serious consequences in the coming days. “I’m worried over the next six to twelve weeks that we’re going to see a situation with this pandemic, different from what we’ve seen before. And it’s really a challenge that most people, in my opinion, do not realize yet,” Michael Osterholm, PhD, an epidemiologist at the University of Minnesota and a member of President-elect Joe Biden’s Transition COVID-19 Advisory Board, told CNN’s New day.
Researchers stress that people still need to be vaccinated.
Despite the discouraging discovery, researchers still suggest that as many people as possible take the vaccine to protect themselves, suggesting that the doses may create the greater antibody response needed to ward off the South African strain. Moore pointed to one recent study by the Sheba Medical Center in Israel, which has not yet been peer-reviewed or posted online, which found that 102 health workers who received both doses of Pfizer’s vaccine produced blood work that elicited an antibody response higher than patients previously suffered from severe COVID.
“We have to remember that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are 95 percent effective – that’s an extraordinary efficiency,” Montefiori told CNN. “If it effectively reduces to 90, 80, 70 percent, it’s still very, very good and is likely to have a major impact on the pandemic.” And for more information on what you need to know before getting a jab, check out Dr. Fauci has just issued this warning about COVID vaccine side effects.