The Pfizer vaccine is a little less effective against key mutations in South Africa – study

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Pfizer Inc and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine appears to be losing only a little effectiveness against a virus designed with three key mutations in the new coronavirus variant found in South Africa, according to a US laboratory study pharmacist.

The study by Pfizer and scientists at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), which has not yet been evaluated by colleagues, showed a less than two-fold reduction in antibody titer, indicating that the vaccine is likely effective in neutralizing a virus with the so-called E484K and N501Y mutations found in the South African version.

The study here was performed on blood taken from people who received the vaccine. His findings are limited because he does not look at the full set of mutations found in the new South African variant.

While these findings do not indicate the need for a new vaccine to address emerging variants, Pfizer and BioNTech are prepared to answer whether a variant of SARS-CoV-2 provides evidence of the COVID-19 vaccine’s escape of immunity, the companies said.

Scientists are currently designing a virus with the full set of mutations and are expected to have results in about two weeks, according to Pei-Yong Shi, study author and professor at UTMB.

The results are more encouraging than another study that was not evaluated by colleagues by scientists at Columbia University on Wednesday, which used a slightly different method and showed that the antibodies generated by the photos were significantly less effective against the variant. from South Africa.

One possible reason for the difference could be that Pfizer’s findings are based on a designed coronavirus, and the Columbia study used a pseudovirus based on vesicular stomatitis virus, a different type of virus, UTMB’s Shi said. He said he believes the discovery in pseudoviruses should be validated using the real virus.

The study also showed even better results against several key mutations in the highly transmissible variant of the virus in the UK. Shi said he was also working on a virus designed with the full set of mutations in this variant.