New, more infectious variants of the coronavirus are being investigated in the United States, raising questions about whether the Covid vaccines currently in use provide protection against mutations.
A number of other changing changes are emerging across the globe, in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil. In the U.S., changes from New York City and California have been marked.
So far, studies suggest that the vaccines currently in use can recognize the emerging variables – but they provide less protection against these new strains. The South African variant, for example, reduced Pfizer-BioNTech antibody protection by two-thirds, according to a February study. Six-fold Moderna neutral antibodies fell with the South African variant.
(There are a number of reasons that the antibodies that can be formed after a different vaccine may be identified but not also fought. Antibodies protect you by binding to each individual spike protein on the surface of the coronary, a prevents it from infecting your cell. A variable produces many times more virus, the antibodies may not be able to bind to these virus fragments as accurately or as effectively.)
But boosters and newer versions of vaccines are being targeted that target the variables.
The three vaccines approved by the Food and Drug Administration for emergency use from Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech and Johnson & Johnson work in different ways, so they have different approaches to treatment. changes. Here’s what we know:
Moderna
Moderna is experimenting with using the third dose of the existing vaccine, as well as using a booster bullet aimed at the South African variety. (He sent samples to the National Institutes of Health for clinical trials on February 24.)
Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said the company is “committed to making as many updates to our vaccine as possible to bring the pandemic under control,” in a February 24 press release. .
The Moderna vaccine uses messenger RNA or “mRNA” technology to deliver genetic material to cells with instructions on how to make a non-infectious piece of the coronavirus spike protein. The immune system recognizes copies of the spike protein and creates antibodies against it. If a fully vaccinated person is exposed to the true virus in the future, the body will remember how to stimulate an immune response and create antibodies that fight the virus.
The boosters for new modifications use the same technology as Moderna’s original Covid vaccine. Bancel has stated that it is largely a matter of “copying and pasting” the new mutations into the vaccine. Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett, who led the team responsible for the Moderna vaccine, says this approach is “plug and play.”
It could take months for the clinical data to be ready for review, and even longer for the boosters to be approved, produced and ready for delivery.
Moderna president Stephen Hoge told American American that if the variables begin to take control of diseases in the coming months, the company is willing to “figure out when and how we will change.” Hoge did not mention when the increase would be available.
Pfizer-BioNTech
Pfizer-BioNTech is also testing the third elevated dose of its vaccine (which is the mRNA vaccine) on people who have received the full vaccine in a Phase 1 study. Participants will receive their third dose in six to 12 months after receiving the vaccine, according to a press release.
In addition, the company is considering a clinical trial for that “variable specific vaccine” that is a reconstructed version of the original vaccine using the South African strain, according to a press release.
“We believe our vaccine is strongly active against all sexes,” Pfizer Chief Scientific Officer Mikael Dolsten said in an interview on February 25. In the future, it is a “reasonable opportunity ”People needed to get steady elevation views, Dolsten said. Alternatively, the companies may have to change the beams every few years to adapt, he said.
Like Moderna, the Pfizer mRNA vaccine is very flexible.
“The flexibility of our proprietary mRNA vaccination platform allows us to technically develop booster vaccines within weeks, if needed,” Ugur Sahin, CEO and co-founder of BioNTech, said in a news release.
“This route of control is already in place for other infectious diseases such as influenza. We will take these steps to ensure long-term immunity to the virus and its variants. different. “
Johnson & Johnson
The latest vaccine had an efficacy of 72% for obtaining an emergency use permit from the Food and Drug Administration to prevent moderate illness in the U.S. But in South Africa, where a major infectious mutation of the virus is a major variant, the efficacy was 64% effective in preventing Covid moderate to severe or acute, according to FDA data. In Brazil, the vaccine was 66% effective.
(Experts say it was worth noting that the Johnson & Johnson tests were held when the new variables had become the mainstays in South Africa and Brazil, while the Moderna and Pfizer tests were happened before that happened.)
Johnson & Johnson ‘s single – dose vaccine uses adenovirus, a virus that causes the common cold, as a messenger to deliver guidance to the body’ s cells.
Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky said the company is well placed to adapt the vaccine for changes, and is working on developing software that will help “deal with some of the new and emerging variables. that, ”in an interview with CNBC’s“ Squawk Box ”March 1. He did not explain how the software would work.
“Based on the clinical data we already have with our vaccine we are very confident that we will see a very strong response, but at the same time we are doing the same. [as other companies working on variants], “Gorsky said.
Novavax
Although the Novavax Covid dual-dose vaccine has not yet been approved in the U.S., the company expects to receive FDA approval by May.
Data from the UK test in January show that the vaccine was over 89% effective in protecting against Covid and 85.6% effective against the UK variant. But the Novavax vaccine was less than 50% effective on the South African species.
Novavax is working on a third potential upgrade to be confirmed in April, a spokesman for the company told Scientific American.
Novavax is a two-dose “protein subunit vaccine,” which contains harmless patches of the surface spike protein that directly stimulates the immune system. So, basically, scientists can add different types to the existing vaccine as changes appear.
Novavax CEO Stanley Erck told NPR that the Covid vaccine can be tweaked “very easily,” similar to how the flu vaccine is converted each year to respond to the obvious rays.
It could even end up being a “bivalent vaccine,” a vaccine that protects against several strains of virus. “So we will use the original Wuhan strain and South African snoring [to tweak the vaccine] and test it in humans probably in the second quarter of this year, “Erck told NPR.
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