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The University of Oxford said existing COVID-19 vaccines could protect against the Brazilian variant of the coronavirus, as the P1 strain may be less resistant to antibodies.
A study from the university – which jointly developed the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine with the Anglo-Swedish company – looked at the impact of natural and vaccine-induced antibodies on different strains.
The research, which has yet to be peer reviewed, measured the level of antibodies that can neutralize – or stop infection – variants that are circulating in South Africa, Brazil and elsewhere.
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He found that the vaccines did not work as well against the variants as they did against the original strain of coronavirus, but the Brazilian variant P1 may be less resistant to the antibodies induced by the vaccine than initially feared.
“These data suggest that natural and vaccine-induced antibodies can still neutralize these variants, but at lower levels,” the university said.
“Importantly, the ‘Brazilian’ P1 strain may be less resistant to these antibodies than initially feared.
The study used blood samples from people who had natural antibodies generated by COVID-19 infection and those whose antibodies were induced by the Oxford or Pfizer vaccines.
He found an almost three-fold reduction in the level of neutralization of the virus by the antibodies generated by the Oxford and Pfizer vaccines for the Kent and Brazil variants compared to the original strain, and a nine-fold and seven-fold reduction, 6 times respectively against Variant South Africa.
The UK was the first country in the world to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
It is currently being rolled out across the country, alongside the University of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, which received the green light from the Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) weeks later and administered to patients since the beginning of this year.
The approval of the Moderna jab followed and the company said on Thursday it planned to deliver its first COVID vaccines to Britain in April. A spokesperson added that it was on track to meet its procurement obligations.
It comes after ministers warned vaccine rollout would be slower than hoped for over the next few months due to problems with international supplies.
Vaccine supplier Pfizer said its deliveries to the UK for the first three months of the year “remain on track”.
And AstraZeneca said its domestic UK supply chain “is not experiencing any disruption and there is no impact on our delivery schedule.”
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