the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, the COVID19 vaccine developed by Pfizer appears to be effective against the more transmissible variants of the coronavirus, including the one first discovered in South Africa, according to a new report in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Researchers at Pfizer and the University of Texas Medical Branch genetically engineered versions of COVID-19 to carry some of the mutations found in the variant discovered in South Africa and tested them against blood samples taken from 15 people who had received both doses of the virus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.
According to the New England Journal , “There is no clinical evidence to date that the South African variant virus escapes” vaccine protection from COVID-19, Pfizer said. Nevertheless, the company said it is “taking the necessary steps, making the right investments, and engaging in the appropriate conversations with regulators” to develop and seek authorization for an updated vaccine or a booster shot if a variant emerges to which its vaccine proves ineffective.
In a separate study of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine in the journal, researchers found that the vaccine was effective against neutralizing the variant found in the U.K. but showed a significant decrease in antibodies against the South African strain by a factor of 6.4 compared to levels produced against earlier versions of the virus. Based on the results, researchers concluded that protection against the strain by the Moderna vaccine “remains to be determined.”
