New data show that South African virus differentiation assumes vaccine efficacy

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Clinical trial data on two COVID-19 vaccines show that a coronavirus variable first identified in South Africa reduces their ability to defend against the disease, stressing the need to vaccinate large numbers of people as soon as possible, scientists said.

The vaccines from Novavax Inc and Johnson & Johnson have been hailed as an important future weapon in preventing deaths and hospitals in a pandemic that has captured more than 101 million people and has over 2 million lives worldwide.

However, they were less effective in inhibiting COVID-19 in trial participants in South Africa, where the new strong variant is widespread, compared to countries where the mutation this is still rare, according to preliminary data released by the companies.

“Clearly, the mutants reduce the effectiveness of vaccines,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, in a briefing. “We see that we are going to be challenged. ”

Novavax reported the results of a mid-term test Thursday that showed its vaccine was 50% effective overall in preventing COVID-19 among people in South Africa.

That compared with end-of-period results from the United Kingdom, in which the vaccine was up to 89.3% effective in preventing COVID-19.

On Friday, J&J reported that one picture of the coronavirus vaccine was 66% effective overall in a large test across three continents.

However, there were wide regional differences. In the United States, where the South African variance was reported this week, efficiency reached 72%, compared to just 57% in South Africa, where the variance was new, called B 1.351, making up 95% of the COVID-19 cases reported in the lawsuit.

Another major variability first discovered in the UK and now in more than half of U.S. states has been as able to avoid vaccine efficacy as its African counterpart. Right.

The new findings, however, raise questions about how highly effective vaccines from Pfizer Inc will be shared with partner BioNTech, and Moderna Inc against new changes. Both vaccines showed an efficacy of about 95% in tests performed mostly in the United States before the new virus versions were identified in other countries.

“It’s a different pandemic now,” said Dr. Dan Barouch, a researcher at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center at Harvard School in Boston who helped develop the J&J vaccine.

Barouch said there is now a wide variety of new mutations circulating, including in Brazil, South Africa and even the United States, which are strongly opposed to vaccine-induced antibodies.

Pfizer chief executive Albert Bourla said there was a “high potential” that emerging changes to the company’s vaccine could be ineffective.

“This is not yet the case … but I think it is very likely that one day it will happen,” Bourla told the World Economic Forum. The drug dealer is considering whether his vaccine needs to be changed to protect against South African diversity.

‘STOP HOSPITALS FROM GOING IN CRISIS’

Experts said the four vaccines still have great value in their ability to reduce COVID-19 side effects.

“The final game is to stop deaths, to stop hospitals from going into crisis – and it seems that all of these vaccines, even including against the South African variety, are , does just that, ”said Dr Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease specialist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security

For example, the J&J vaccine was 89% effective in preventing serious disease in South Africa.

J&J Chief Scientific Officer, Dr Paul Stoffels, said he suspects a type of immune system response called a T-cell response plays a protective role and may help prevent it. on severe disease.

“We knew that to some extent, but it’s also better and confirms that we’ll see that now in the clinic,” Stoffels said in an interview.

Nonetheless, Fauci said the reduced efficiency levels reinforce the need to closely follow changes, and accelerate vaccination efforts before new, and even more dangerous, mutations arise.

“The best way to prevent further evolutionary viruses is to prevent reproduction,” Fauci said, “and you can do that by vaccinating humans as soon as you can.”