The BioNTech / Pfizer coronavirus vaccine should provide protection against both South African and British variants, according to an article published in Nature Medicine on Monday.
The researchers tested the blood serum of participants who received the vaccine against genetically modified virus samples to match the variants, finding that the antibodies responded to these viruses.
However, one limitation of the peer-reviewed study is that “the engineered viruses do not include the full set of spike spores found in the peer-to-peer virus. [U.K.] no [South African] variables, “the researchers said.
The magazine’s article – based on a pre-release published on January 27 – noted that the neutralization of the virus that contained mutations found in various South Africans was “slightly more low ”compared to its UK counterpart. But the differences were small.
There is less promising news on this front for the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine. In South Africa, a study suggesting that the injection is not effective in preventing moderate to severe illness caused by the resulting variance has led the government to suspend plans to roll out the vaccine for frontline health workers.