Further laboratory results suggest that the Pfizer / BioNTech coronavirus vaccine will be effective against more contagious coronavirus strains first identified in South Africa and the UK.
As in previous studies, antibodies were slightly less effective against the virus with three major mutations in the variant identified in South Africa. However, Pfizer and BioNTech said, “The small differences in viral neutralization observed in these studies are unlikely to lead to a significant reduction in vaccine efficacy.”
The researchers engineered versions of the virus in the laboratory that carry some of the mutations found in the variables. They tested against blood taken from 20 people who had received two doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine as part of a clinical trial.
The laboratory study – conducted by researchers at Pfizer and the University of Texas Medical Branch – did not test all of the mutations found in the variables, and researchers note that “clinical data are needed for robust conclusions about the efficacy of vaccines against variable viruses.”
The results were posted Wednesday on the bioRxiv preprint server and have not been peer reviewed or published in a medical journal.
Pfizer and BioNTech said Wednesday that a new vaccine against the variables does not appear to be needed. In a press release, they said they will continue to monitor sequences and conduct audits to monitor the effectiveness of the vaccine in the real world. Pfizer said earlier in the week that they were “putting down the ground work” to create a vaccine booster that could respond to coronavirus changes, if necessary.
Moderna, the maker of the other U.S.-authorized coronavirus vaccine, said this week its Covid-19 vaccine created antibodies that neutralized the coronavirus mutations first detected in the United Kingdom and Africa. South, and were expecting a further escalation against the variables. “Out of abundance of warning.”
## Vaccines