Pfizer-BioNTech warns that South Africa variant of COVID-19 could reduce vaccine protection

Pfizer-BioNTech had said that the emerging mutations of the COVID-19 virus from South Africa may reduce vaccine efficacy. Read on to know more.

By: Jahnavi Sarma | | Updated: February 19, 2021 8:29 am

The vaccination drive against COVID-19 is going on across the world. But, at the same time, we are also seeing an emergence of new strains and mutations of the virus that causes this deadly contagious disease. After the UK variant of the novel coronavirus causes alarm across the world, the South African and Brazilian variants have kept the scientific community on their toes. What does this mean for the existing vaccines? Will vaccine recipients enjoy protection against these mutations? This is a question that is being increasingly asked nowadays, not only in the scientific community but also by general people. Many companies have sounded an alarm regarding this. Now, a new study sheds more light on this. The South African variant of COVID-19 may significantly reduce antibody protection from the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, as per a laboratory study, the pharmaceutical companies said. However, human trials are still to be conducted in this regard. Also Read - This monoclonal antibody 'cocktail' may block COVID variants: Study

Virus neutralization happened to an extent

According to the study, although the study results indicated a reduction in neutralisation of virus with all the South African variant spike glycoprotein mutations, the vaccine was still able to neutralise the COVID-19 virus. This finding is consistent with recent reports of the neutralisation of variant SARS-CoV-2 or corresponding pseudoviruses by convalescent or post-immunisation sera, the companies said in a statement on Wednesday. The New England Journal of Medicine, published this study. Also Read - 85-year-old Dalai Lama gets first dose of COVID vaccine

Pfizer and the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) investigated the full set of South African variant (also known as B.1.351 lineage) spike mutations. To this aim, three genetically engineered recombinant viruses were produced. One virus had the full set of spike glycoprotein mutations found in the South African variant and the other two had subsets of these mutations. The viruses were tested against a panel of sera from 15 participants in the previously reported Phase 3 trial who had been immunised with the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine. Also Read - Maharashtra records over 10,000 new coronavirus cases, highest since October

Pfizer taking steps to develop updated mRNA vaccine

Pfizer-BioNTech said they are taking the necessary steps, making the right investments, and engaging in the appropriate conversations with regulators to be in a position to develop and seek authorisation for an updated mRNA vaccine or booster once a strain that significantly reduces the protection from the vaccine is identified, the company said.

Company is looking into the Brazilian variant too

Pfizer-BioNTech are currently evaluating neutralisation of SARS-CoV-2 with the Brazilian strain spike mutations, as well as mutations from other emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants, and they continue to conduct studies to monitor the vaccine’s real-world effectiveness. The pharmaceutical companies believe that the flexibility of BioNTech’s proprietary mRNA vaccine platform is well suited to develop new vaccine variants, if required.

(With inputs from IANS)

Published : February 19, 2021 8:08 am | Updated:February 19, 2021 8:29 am

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