New research suggests that Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine may protect against a mutation found in two easier-to-spread variants of the coronavirus that broke out in Britain and South Africa.
These variants are causing worldwide concern. They carry multiple mutations, but share one in common that is believed to be the reason they are most contagious. Called N501Y, it is a slight alteration at one point in the ear protein that coats the virus.
Most vaccines that are being rolled out around the world train the body to recognize this beak protein and fight it. Pfizer partnered with researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston to do lab tests to see if the mutation affected the ability of his vaccine to do so.
They used blood samples from 20 people who received the vaccine, made by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, during an extensive study of the shots. According to the study, antibodies from these vaccine receptors successfully defended the virus in laboratory dishes published Thursday afternoon on an online site for researchers.
The study is preliminary and has not yet been reviewed by experts, a key step for medical research.
But “it was a very reassuring finding that at least this mutation, which was one of the most worrying people, doesn’t seem like a problem” for the vaccine, said Pfizer scientist Dr. Philip Dormitzer.
A similar Moderna vaccine is being rolled out in the United States and Europe, and was phased out in Britain on Friday. Modern is doing similar tests to see if its firing also works against variants, as do manufacturers of other types of COVID-19 vaccines.
But Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top American infectious disease expert, recently told The Associated Press that vaccines are designed to recognize several parts of the ear protein, so a single mutation is unlikely to be enough to block them. Still, you need to do tests to be sure.
Viruses constantly undergo minor changes as they spread from person to person. Scientists have used these slight modifications to track the movement of the coronavirus around the world since it was first detected in China about a year ago.
British scientists have said that the variant found in the UK – which has become the dominant type in some parts of England – still appeared susceptible to vaccines. This mutant has now been found in the United States and many other countries.
But the variant first discovered in South Africa has an additional mutation that scientists have on the brink, one called E484K.
The Pfizer study found that the vaccine appeared to work against 15 possible additional mutations in the virus, but E484K was not among the tests. Dormitzer said he is next on the list.
If over time the virus mutates enough for the vaccine to be adjusted, just as flu vaccines fit most years, it would not be difficult to adjust the prescription for your company’s vaccines. and the like. Both Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are made with a fragment of the virus’s genetic code, which is easy to change, although it is unclear what kind of additional test regulators would be required to make this change.
Dormitzer said this was just the beginning of “continuous monitoring of virus changes to see if any of them could affect vaccine coverage.”
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department is supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.