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For the study, researchers from Pfizer and the University of Texas medical branch designed genetically engineered versions of the virus to carry some of the mutations found in B.1.351. They tested them on blood samples taken from 15 people who had received two doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine in a clinical trial.
While the blood serum samples produced less neutralizing antibody activity, it was still enough to neutralize the virus, they wrote in a letter to the journal. This is consistent with other studies. And that’s good in what we see with other viruses, one of the researchers said.
“While we do not yet know exactly what level of neutralization is necessary for protection against COVID-19 disease or infection, our experience with other vaccines tells us that the Pfizer vaccine is likely to provide protection. relatively good against this new variant, “Scott Weaver, director of the Institute for Human Infections and Immunity at the University of Texas medical branch and author of the study, told CNN.
“The reduction in neutralization levels against the South African variant by about 2/3 is quite small compared to the variations in neutralization levels generated by vaccines against other viruses which have even more variability in their protein sequences than SARS-CoV-2, ”Weaver added.
Pfizer said there was no real-life evidence that the variant escapes the protection offered by its vaccine. “Nonetheless, Pfizer and BioNTech are taking the necessary steps, making the right investments, and initiating the appropriate conversations with regulators to be able to develop and seek approval of an updated mRNA vaccine or a recall. once a strain that significantly reduces vaccine protection is identified, ”Pfizer said in a statement.
Separately, a team from the National Institutes of Health and Moderna published a letter in the same journal describing the results of an experiment they reported last month. They also reported a reduction in the antibody response to viruses genetically engineered to look like the B.1.351 variant – but not enough reduction for the vaccine to work less effectively.
“Despite this reduction, the titer levels neutralizing with (the variant discovered in South Africa) remain above levels which should be protective,” the company said in a statement.
They found no reduction in efficacy against a variant first seen in the UK and known as B.1.1.7.
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