In early January, researchers from the University of Texas and Pfizer published a preliminary study suggesting that the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine may protect against mutation found in the UK and South Africa. Two weeks later, however, news surfaced that Pfizer and its partner BioNTech were working on augmented scenes to guard against new changes.
There is now strong evidence that the Pfizer vaccine – as well as the other authorized mRNA vaccine from Moderna – needs to be updated to recover from new aggressive variants of COVID-19. The data raise concerns among some analysts of “breakout” cases of COVID-19, even in vaccinated people, and the potential for more locks this summer.
In a letter published in the New England Journal of Medicine Wednesday, Pfizer and the University of Texas said a laboratory study showed the vaccine had about two-thirds less potency against the South African version of COVID. -19 than it was against the original virus.
Moderna also published a letter about her vaccine at NEJM, explaining that the scientists tested their COVID vaccine against a number of modifications, including those found in the UK, South Africa and the United States. Denmark. They found a six-fold reduction in antibody neutralization when they tested the vaccine against “the panel full of mutations,” they said.
Both companies used serum samples taken from participants in their initial immunization trials to perform the studies. That revealed some limitations, they said in their letters, making it impossible to say with certainty how effective the vaccines will be if the new variables take over and begin to spread widely. However, the surveys were enough to raise concerns among Wall Street analysts.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT: First Moderna, now Pfizer-BioNTech is working on an upgraded amid an increase in COVID-19 modifications
Analysts at SVB Leerink looked at NEJM data from Pfizer and made an interesting prediction: They “expect large numbers of cases of COVID outbreaks to occur in people with vaccines exposed to the B1 variant. 351, ”the emerging pressure in South Africa. .
Pfizer has promised to update its vaccine and is in talks with regulators to determine the next steps, analysts noted. “We believe this new version will definitely be needed and we accept that Pfizer is not publishing as much to avoid confidence and embrace their first generation product,” wrote SVB Leerink analysis in a note to investors today.
Analysts have expressed concerns about Pfizer and Moderna’s responses to the evolution of the coronavirus ever since the new variants began to appear and show signs of being more infectious than the original pathogen. After Pfizer initially suggested that its vaccine offered only slightly weaker protection against the South African variable, for example, Evercore ISI analyst Umer Raffat dismissed a note to investors taking warning that the company ‘s analysis did not include all the mutations found in that difference.
LOVE: Pfizer and Moderna have not tested their COVID-19 vaccine shield against new changes: analysts
Vaccine manufacturers are using laboratory tests that may not fully reveal how the vaccines protect against emerging changes in the real world, SVB analysts Leerink wrote. They usually test for antibodies from people who have been vaccinated against “pseudoviruses,” which may give an incomplete picture of the immune protection provided by the vaccines.
SVB Leerink said in today ‘s note that one missing piece of the puzzle is the defense of T cells of the immune system, which has not been shown in antibody – focused tests. It is possible, the analysts said, “that the reactive T cells specific for the virus are largely preserved even in the presence of these mutations, thus providing some reassurance that immunity will be more stable. ”
In a note to investors on Wednesday, SVB Leerink tore at the recent news that the COVID vaccine from AstraZeneca and Oxford University, which has not yet been cleared for use in the U.S., also appears to be so strong against the South African variable. They predicted before the summer that the new changes would take over, and that a vaccine or a pre-infection would give no protection to anyone. That could lead to more locks this summer, they work.
“As a result, we anticipate that many cities, regions and countries will have to move to another round of locks and mandatory social distance, at least in order to have ‘second generation’ vaccines available, covering the novel… variables, ”they said.