JOHANNESBURG – A South African pathologist says the current COVID-19 vaccines may not be fully effective against the new coronavirus version found in the country, but has suggested that the vaccines can be “dressed up” to fight against change.
Scientists studying the COVID-19 variant found in South Africa say that to date, they have no evidence that it causes more serious disease or higher mortality rates. . Wolfgang Preiser, a professor at Stellenbosch University in the West Cape region of South Africa, however, says there is concern that the variant is more contagious.
“It is worrying to see our major recovery over the last few weeks, which coincided with the rise of this new virus. At the moment a number of research organizations across the country are trying to find out if it is true that it is easier to move, and if so, what is the worse rate, ”he said. at webinars hosted by the university on Wednesday.
Preiser shares the concern that conventional vaccines will not work as well to deal with the opposite.
“These vaccines target the spike protein, which is a superficial component of the virus,” he said. “So they are basically imitating this and causing the body to respond immune to that. Now the variants, the UK and we, have changes in that spike protein. Therefore, it is right that there should be concern about whether these changes can affect the body ‘s ability, following vaccination, to neutralize these viral variables. ”
Health authorities in Britain, which are currently fighting their own version of COVID-19, consider the South African line to be particularly “dangerous. ”
Preiser said it is too early to call this a fact. He said South African scientists must first study people who have survived the variant, and those who have been vaccinated in local trials, to see if the vaccines cause their bodies recognize and thus fight the opposite.
“These things are happening at a very fast pace, so I’m sure we’ll know over the next few weeks,” he said. “Personally, there is no reason to panic. I don’t think we need to throw up our arms in despair and say that the vaccine isn’t going to help us. We’re not talking about a vaccine that doesn’t work completely, but it may be a little more effective against the South African variety than the others. ”
If this is indeed the case, scientists say, then the vaccines may need to be changed.
Preiser said that while that’s expensive, with the latest medical advances inspired by COVID-19, it’s easier to do than it sounds.
“What we are getting here is a very innovative way of making vaccines, where you insert a piece of the genome into a carrier virus, which is harmless, or in the form of a messenger RNA, into an innovative capsule, which will then be injected, ”he said.
He said it won’t take long to do this.
“There should be no major process for converting genetic information. That said, it is not a question of days or weeks; it is clearly a matter of months. And of course, these new printed vaccines would have to go through specific clinical trials to make sure they work, and they are fine. “
Many in South Africa say that that is not the country, and the health department is unable to deal with flooding after a flood of critically ill patients with the new COVID-19 strain.
The country has seen more than 1.1 million cases of COVID-19 to date, and more than 30,000 deaths.
South Africa has not yet received any of the currently available vaccines, and it could be weeks before it comes to negotiating with manufacturers for supply.