Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks during a press conference in the James S. Brady Press Room of the White House in Washington on Thursday, January 21, 2021.
Al Drago | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Pfizer’s current Covid-19 and Moderna vaccines can be easily adapted to target new strains of the virus, something drug manufacturers are already working on, White House health adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci.
New strains of the coronavirus have emerged in the UK, South Africa and Brazil that have caused scientists concern. While it’s no surprise that the virus mutates, researchers are trying to quickly determine what the changes could mean for recently developed life-saving vaccines and treatments for the disease.
Some early findings published on the bioRxiv prepress server, which have not yet been peer-reviewed, indicate that the variant identified in South Africa, what scientists call strain B.1.351, may bypass the antibodies provided by some treatments with coronavirus and may reduce the effectiveness of the current line of available vaccines. Fauci told CNN in an interview that it was very similar to the new strain found in Brazil.
However, there is some good news: the new mRNA technology used to make Pfizer and Moderna vaccines makes it easier to adapt to new strains, Fauci said. He added that drug manufacturers are already working to make so-called “reinforcement” traits that will point to the variant found in South Africa, which appears to be more problematic than the rest.
“We’re already trying to stay one or two steps ahead of the game, so if we actually have a situation where the South African strain is prevalent here – it’s here, but it’s certainly not dominant – you want to get really ahead from the point of view of protection, ”Fauci said. “You’ll want to have a vaccine that specifically fits that strain.”
Earlier Wednesday, Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said federal agencies would work together to study the effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccines against mutated strains of the virus. While the permit holders remain very effective against the B.1.1.7 strain first identified in the UK, “things are getting a little more problematic” with the B.1.351 strain.
Even then, both vaccines have been shown to be about 95% effective in preventing Covid-19 in clinical trials, allowing a bit of cushion where vaccines will work even if some of the variants reduce its effectiveness, said the infectious disease expert. .
To test the effectiveness of booster vaccines you don’t have to start from scratch, Fauci said. Reinforcement shots will not have to go through the same large-scale clinical trials that were required for the original vaccines to receive emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in December, he said. and added that they could end up with a “rapid phase 1 test.
“There is no need to make a trial of 30,000 people or a trial of 40,000 people,” Fauci said. “You work with the FDA and you could connect information from one trial to another. In short, we’re already there.”
Moderna announced Monday that its Covid-19 vaccine could be less effective against the B.1.351 strain in South Africa and that the company is accelerating work on a booster shot to protect itself from this variant “by great caution “.
Pfizer said Tuesday that the company, along with German pharmacist BioNTech, would also develop a booster shot, according to a Reuters report. A company spokesman was not immediately available to respond to Fauci’s comments.
– CNBC’s Will Feuer and Berkeley Lovelace Jr. contributed to this report.