Two COVID-19 vaccines developed by Chinese companies have boosted immunity against B1351, the South African version of the coronavirus, which scientists feared could avoid vaccines mRNA through their mutations.
Various variants of the coronavirus have raised concerns worldwide about whether they could weaken the effects of vaccines and medications before they appear. However, 12 serum samples, each obtained from recipients of two vaccines using the inactivated vaccine method by a subgroup of China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) and a unit of Chongqing Zhifei Biological Products, showed that the vaccines maintained neutral activity against the South. African variety.
The study was conducted by researchers from the Institute of Microbiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing Sinopharm Institute of Biological Sciences, which is co-developing a candidate vaccine with the Zhifei unit, and two other Chinese organizations.
However, the effect of the vaccines on B1351 appeared to be slightly weaker than against the original virus and other variants currently spreading across the globe, results from the lab study showed a small sample. The findings were released ahead of a peer review on BioRxiv on February 2nd.
The reduction in activity should be noted “for its impact on the clinical efficacy of these vaccines,” the study said.
The Sinopharm vaccine has already been approved in China for general public use. The Zhifei scene, on the other hand, is still in late-stage clinical trials in China and abroad. Meanwhile, Turkey has purchased 50 million doses of coronavirus vaccine from another Chinese company, Sinovac. They have also started the nationwide vaccination program after receiving 6.5 million doses from Sinovac.
Initial clinical trial data on vaccines from Novavax Inc. and Johnson & Johnson have also shown that they were less effective in inhibiting COVID-19 in trial participants in South Africa, where the new strong variant is widespread. The effectiveness of other vaccines against the South African variant is still being studied while the B.1.1.7 variant, found in the UK, is spreading worldwide and, along with other variants, questioning vaccination efforts.