Pfizer is testing a third dose of its vaccine against …

Laboratories Pfizer–BioNTech announced this Thursday that they are studying the integration of a third dose your coronavirus vaccination schedule and test a new version targeting the South African variant of the virus.

As vaccination campaigns accelerate around the world, there are growing concerns that the most transmissible variants of Covid-19, such as those detected in South Africa Yes Britain, are more resistant to existing inoculation.

The pharmaceutical duo of the United States and Germany reported in a statement that see what happens when people get a third dose of their two-dose vaccine, between six and twelve months after reinforcement.

Additionally, they noted that they had asked health regulators to test a modified version of their original vaccine to deal with the South African variant, known as B.1.351.

“We are taking several steps to take decisive action and be prepared in the event that a strain becomes resistant to the protection offered by the vaccine,” said Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer.

The South African variant of the virus is considered one of the most dangerous because it escapes part of the blocking action exerted by antibodies against the old strain.

This means that people infected with the original strain are more likely to be re-infected, and recent research has shown that the South African variant partially reduces the protection of the current generation of vaccines.

Moderna, the other company whose vaccine has been approved for emergency use in the United States, said on Wednesday that doses of its new COVID-19 vaccine candidate, targeting the South African variant, had been shipped. at the National Institutes of Health. States for testing.