A doctor holds an ampoule of the Corona vaccine from Biontech and Pfizer between his fingers in the pharmacy of the University Hospital of Tübingen (UKT).
Sebastian Gollnow photo alliance Getty Images
The Pfizer and BioNTech Covid-19 vaccines appeared to work against major mutations in the newly transfected variants of the coronavirus detected in the UK and South Africa, according to a laboratory study that made by a US drug manufacturer.
The peer-reviewed study by Pfizer and scientists from the Medical Branch of the University of Texas showed that the vaccine was effective in neutralizing a virus called N501Y of spike protein.
The combination could lead to increased transmission and there were concerns that it could also cause the vaccine-neutralizing antibody-acquired virus, said Phil Dormitzer, a leading vaccine scientist viral Pfizer.
The test was done on blood taken from people who received the vaccine. His conclusions are limited, as he does not look at the full set of strains found in one of the new variants of the rapidly spreading virus.
Dormitzer said he was encouraged that the vaccine appears to be effective against mumps, in addition to 15 other mutations that the company has previously tested.
“So we’ve now tested 16 different mutations, none of which have had any significant impact. That’s the good news,” he said. “That doesn’t mean the 17th won’t.”
Dormitzer noted that another mutation found in the South African version, called the E484K mutation, is also of concern.
The researchers plan to run similar tests to see if the vaccine is effective against other mutations found in the UK and South Africa and hope to have more data within weeks.
Scientists have expressed concern that the spread of vaccines may not be able to protect against the new variants, especially the one that appeared in South Africa.
Simon Clarke, associate professor of cell microbiology at the University of Reading, said this week that while both variants had some new features, the one found in South Africa “on several additional mutations ”that introduced broader changes to the protein spike.
The Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine and the one from Moderna, which uses synthetic messenger RNA technology, can be quickly deployed to deal with new mutations of virus if necessary. Scientists have said the changes could be made in as little as six weeks.