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Coronavirus variants that emerged in the UK and South Africa last month are being studied in depth in laboratories around the world as scientists try to figure out what threat the mutated strains pose. One of the main problems is that new variants can potentially dodge current vaccines, including the two developed by Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna that are currently being rolled out in the US.
On Thursday, a Reuters report describing a new study showed that Pfizer's vaccine showed the variants with a mutation known as N501Y, which appeared in variants in South Africa and the UK variant known as B.1.1.7, independently can effectively neutralize. The study has yet to be reviewed by experts, but is in the preprint depot bioRxiv.
"It's preliminary, but it definitely suggests that the vaccine will work against these variants as well," said Larisa Labzin, an immunologist at the University of Queensland.
Coronaviruses are constantly mutating when transmitted from person to person and, for the most part, do not significantly change the virus. However, a handful of mutations, including those in strain B.1.1.7, appear to allow the virus to spread faster. These changes occur in the tip of the virus, a critical protein that enables the virus to enter human cells and hijack them.
When the news that B.1.1.7 is more communicable first came out, there was reason for caution. The new data was originally provided by Prime Minister Boris Johnson at a UK press conference on December 19th. While scientists raised their concernsIt was too early to say how the mutations might have changed the properties of the virus. Simply put, we needed more data.
It is important that the new variant does not appear to be more deadly, as Johnson noted in his press release. "There's no evidence that the variant causes more severe illness or higher mortality, but it appears to be much more easily passed on," he said. However, scientists were unsettled about the potential of the variant to evade our current vaccines.
They took antibodies from people who had been immunized with the vaccine and checked whether these antibodies could still stop the new variants with a critical change in their spike protein
In the past few weeks, however, the variant has appeared in numerous locations around the world, including the United States and Australia, where it has violated the hotel quarantine system and forced the city of Brisbane into an immediate three-day lockdown. Growing concern has spread around the world, with many nations taking a closer look at their borders or closing them entirely to British travelers.
To test the ability of current vaccines against the new variants, Pfizer used blood serum from 20 people who had received the vaccine. This serum contains antibodies against the vaccine and can be tested in the laboratory against viruses with various mutations. The interim results look good.
"We have now tested 16 different mutations and none of them had any really significant effects. That's the good news," Phil Dormitzer, a viral vaccine scientist at Pfizer, told Reuters.
"That doesn't mean the 17th won't be."
Labzin said it will be important to test other aspects of the immune response, such as how specialized white blood cells react to infection with the variant after vaccination. Other mutations in the variants are also being investigated.
"There are more mutations in the spike protein than just the ones they tested in this variant, but it's definitely positive news," she said.
If the variants mutate in such a way that they affect the effectiveness of current vaccines, we don't have to go back to the drawing board. This is thanks to the "plug-n-play" nature of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. These vaccines use mRNA and can potentially be "recoded" within a few months to combat new variants. However during Technology makes it possibleThis has never been tested before.
The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a doctor or other qualified health care provider with any questions about a disease or health goals.
