LONDON (Reuters) – British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said on Friday that there were concerns about the potential effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines against the highly contagious variant of the coronavirus found in South Africa .
“There are concerns that a South African man in particular – about how effective the vaccine would be against him – so we can’t just take chances,” Shapps told Sky.
The Pfizer Inc vaccine and BioNTech COVID-19 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.
Reciting with Guy Faulconbridge; Edited by Kate Holton