A study in Israel found that the coronavirus variant discovered in South Africa could “break” Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine to some extent.
The South African variant of the coronavirus managed to penetrate the protection offered by two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to some extent, although it is not yet clear what effectiveness is lost, he said.
The research, published on Saturday, compared about 400 people who tested positive for COVID-19 two weeks or more after receiving one or two doses of the vaccine, against the same number of unvaccinated patients with the disease.
It coincided with age and gender, among other characteristics.
The South African variant, B.1.351, was found to account for approximately 1 percent of all COVID-19 cases of all people studied, according to the Tel Aviv University study and the largest health care provider. great of Israel, Clalit.
But among patients who had received two doses of the vaccine, the prevalence rate of the variant was eight times higher than that of the unvaccinated: 5.4 percent versus 0.7 percent.
This suggests that the vaccine is less effective against the South African variant, compared to the original coronavirus and a variant first identified in Britain that has come to include almost all cases of COVID-19 in Israel, the researchers.
“We found a disproportionately higher rate of the South African variant among people vaccinated with a second dose, compared to the unvaccinated group. This means that the South African variant is able, to some extent, to break the protection of the vaccine, ”said Adi Stern of Tel Aviv University, who led the study.
However, the researchers warned that the study had only a small sample size of people infected with the South African variant due to its rarity in Israel.
They also said the research was not intended to deduce the overall effectiveness of the vaccine against any variant, as they only looked at people who had already tested positive for COVID-19, not the overall infection rates.
Pfizer and BioNTech could not be reached immediately for comment outside of business hours.
Companies said on April 1 that their vaccine was about 91% effective in preventing COVID-19, citing updated trial data that included inoculated participants up to six months old.
Regarding the South African variant, they said that among a group of 800 student volunteers in South Africa, where B.1.351 is widespread, there were nine cases of COVID-19, which occurred among participants who obtained placebo.
Of these nine cases, six were individuals infected with the South African variant.
Some previous studies have indicated that the Pfizer-BioNTech trait was less potent against variant B.1.351 than against others of the coronavirus, but still offered robust defense.
While the results of the study may cause concern, the low prevalence of the South African strain was encouraging, according to Stern.
“Even if the South African variant breaks down vaccine protection, it has not spread widely to the population,” Stern said, adding that the British variant could “block” the spread of the South African strain.
Nearly 53 percent of Israel’s 9.3 million people have received the two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Israel has largely reopened its economy in recent weeks as the pandemic appeared to recede, with rates of infection, serious illness and hospitalizations falling sharply.
About a third of Israelis are under the age of 16, meaning they are not yet eligible for shooting.