The new coronavirus variant that is sweeping the UK is very unlikely to avoid immune responses that come from previous vaccines or Covid disease, scientists say.
Researchers in the U.S. found that antibodies collected from elderly patients rarely targeted parts of the virus that were damaged in the new variant. Their work suggests that only 0.5% of individuals are at risk of having less protection against the variant, named B.1.1.7.
The findings come as a relief to scientists and public health officials who have been concerned that worldwide distribution of vaccines could be so effective against the new change, and that issues could arise. behind transplants.
Based on the new analysis, Akiko Iwasaki, professor of immunobiology at Yale University, said: “The B.1.1.7 variant is unlikely to escape recognition by antibodies generated by prior infection with [older versions of the] virus or the vaccines. ”
Iwasaki teamed up with Winston Haynes and others at the California biotech company Serimmune to study how antibodies in the blood of Covid-19 patients target the virus. Antibodies deactivate viruses by sticking to the proteins from which they are made. Some focus on continuous strands of protein, such as a handful of continuous words in a sentence, while others focus on pieces of protein that are brought together as they bend and fold.
The scientists collected antibodies from 579 coronavirus patients and looked at the continuous strands of virus protein they were targeting. Most attacked the same “hot spots” of the virus. Crucially, none of the mutations in the new UK variant are in those hot spots, so most people’s immune systems will not be weakened.
One of the most important components of the virus is the spike protein, a strand of 1,273 molecules called amino acids that bind together in a chain. The spike is the key to the virus for capturing cells and is also a target of most vaccines. In the study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, Iwasaki and her colleagues found that only two people, or 0.3% of the patients surveyed, had less potent antibodies. attack spike proteins the new UK variable.
Three patients, or 0.5%, had weakened antibody response to other parts of the variant, but Iwasaki said this may not be a major problem as patients targeting loops were likely to have more antibodies and pathogens on the virus, and other immune defenses that pull on T cells to attack the pathogen.
The encouraging results come as issues of the new UK variable rise. The Office for National Statistics announced on Friday that it now makes up more than 60% of advanced tests in England and more than 80% in London. The sharp rise in diseases has intensified requests for the release of the vaccine program as soon as possible.
“I believe it’s important to give as many people as possible the first impression, as a number of more infectious changes have emerged on the rise,” Iwasaki said. “The second dose should be given, when available, as close to the proposed original schedule, but a small delay is not expected to significantly reduce the effect. People should wear masks and stay away from crowded gatherings indoors, even after receiving the vaccines. “
Danny Altmann, a professor of immunology at Imperial College London who was not involved in the study, said it should comfort those concerned that the new, more mobile variables found in the UK and South Africa to oppose vaccines. He said the work suggested that most human antibodies would still neutralize the two variants.
Altmann said: “Many immunologists currently accept that it is the central, immunological interaction that explains a virus’s ability to inhibit the generation of specific, neutral antibodies that prevent human cell viruses. . These antibodies are targeted to various shapes on the spike. There has been a great deal of effort over the past year to accurately map these structures so that we can devise better prevention strategies.
“This new study from Winston Haynes and colleagues is the next high-tech step in this regard. Their highly detailed databases also provide comfort to those who fear that the new UK and South African variants will be able to bypass the neutral antibodies, reducing the effectiveness of vaccines. The study reminds us that neutering involves a wide range of different antibody signals at different sites, most of which are unaffected by mutations. ”