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Vaccines from Johnson & Johnson and Novavax were less effective again a new variant of the virus.
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“It’s really a wake-up call for us,” said Dr Anthony Fauci.
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People should always be vaccinated as quickly as possible, Fauci added.
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Related: What It’s Like To Get The COVID-19 Vaccine
The United States must redouble its efforts to stop the spread of the coronavirus, Dr Anthony Fauci said on Friday, after two vaccines were found to be less effective against a new variant of the virus.
“It’s really a wake-up call for us to be nimble and able to adapt as this virus will continue to evolve and mutate for sure,” said Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
He spoke on a conference call hosted by the National Institutes of Health to discuss data on the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine. J&J said its vaccine was 66% effective in preventing moderate and severe cases of COVID-19 overall, but less effective in South Africa, where a variant of the virus is spreading. Novavax said on Thursday that its coronavirus vaccine was also less effective against this variant of the coronavirus.
The first American cases of this variant were identified on Thursday.
Fauci said Americans need to be vaccinated as quickly as possible.
“The best way to prevent the further development of a virus is to prevent it from replicating, and you do that by vaccinating people as quickly as possible,” he said at the briefing, which took place with other NIH officials and J&J executives.
Experts had previously expressed hope that the COVID vaccines currently on the market, as well as those in development, would resist the variants until there were major changes in the spike protein – a key component of the virus. virus. But the South African variant has modifications of this part of the virus.
Read more: Moderna designs a new version of its Covid-19 plan to respond to a new variant
Even the two vaccines currently on the market in the United States, manufactured by Moderna and Pfizer, could be affected by the new variant. The two companies said their vaccines should still produce enough protective antibodies to stop the virus, although lab results showed protection could be diminished. As a precaution, Moderna and Pfizer are now working on booster shots that could directly target variants.
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