Scientists are working to test whether mutations found in new variants of coronavirus can bypass its immunity. vaccines currently being developed. Tthe first results of this paper are encouraging: They suggest that the Pfizer vaccine is still effective against a major mutation found in these variants. Hhowever, even more research is needed before they can be completely reassured.
Preliminary results were freed this week on the bioRXiv prepress site by a team of scientists from Pfizer and the University of Texas Medical Branch. They collected blood samples from people who had been completely vaccinated and tested them against virus strains carrying the N501Y mutation, which has been seen in variants first found in the UK and South Africa and is believed to be an important reason why these strains are more transmissible. Sscientists have worried that the mutation could change the structure of the virus enough to allow it to “escape” detection from the immune system of survivors or vaccinated people.
Into the tests, the blood of these patients was still able to neutralize the N501Y strain of the virus, working as well as against other variants. This indicates that this mutation alone will not protect the virus from our existence weapons. The team tested other mutations observed in variants in the UK or South Africa and found similar results.
“So we tested 16 different mutations now and none of them had a significant impact. This is good news, ”said study author and Pfizer scientist Philip Dormitzer. said Reuters on Friday. “That doesn’t mean the 17th won’t do it.”
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Indeed, no research has yet been done on another disturbing mutation seen in the South African version, called E484K. And while it may be difficult for a single mutation to affect the effectiveness of the vaccine, experts have done so. ADVISED the fact that several mutations in one variant could change it sufficiently enough to avoid the antibodies provided by the vaccine, at least partially weakening the effectiveness of a vaccine. In other words, these findings are hopeful, but there are still many double checks to be made.
Dormitzer and his team – and no doubt other scientists – will continue to test the vaccine against new mutations and variants, with data from this research that is said to be available in the next few weeks. In the meantime, the real world could provide some useful information in the near future. To date, about 17 million people have it globally received at least one dose of covid-19 vaccine (most require two doses), including 6.25 million Americans. Iin the middle of afurious pandemic, there are several cases of these variants reported around the world. If our vaccines don’t work as well as they should because of these new versions of the virus, we’ll know soon enough.