NEW YORK – The COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer Inc and BioNTech was found to work against a major mutation in the highly transmissible new variants of the coronavirus discovered in the UK and South Africa, according to a laboratory study conducted by the US drug company.
The not-yet-peer-reviewed study by Pfizer and scientists at the University of Texas Medical Branch indicated that the vaccine was effective in neutralizing the virus with the so-called N501Y mutation of the spike protein.
The mutation could be responsible for greater transmissibility, and there was concern that the virus could also escape the antibody neutralization induced by the vaccine, said Phil Dormitzer, one of Pfizer’s top viral vaccine scientists.
The study was conducted using blood taken from people who had received the vaccine. The findings are limited because it does not look at the full set of mutations found in any of the new variants of the fast-spreading virus.
Dormitzer said it was encouraging that the vaccine appears to be effective against the mutation, as well as 15 other mutations the company has previously tested against.
“So we have now tested 16 different mutations, and none of them have really had a significant impact. That’s the good news, ”he said. “That doesn’t mean the 17th won’t.”
Dormitzer noted that another mutation found in the South African variant, the E484K mutation, is also of concern.
The researchers plan to conduct similar tests to see if the vaccine is effective against other mutations found in the British and South African variants, and hope to have more data in a few weeks.
Scientists have expressed concern that vaccines that are being rolled out may not protect against the new variants, particularly the ones that were emerging in South Africa.
Simon Clarke, associate professor of cellular microbiology at the University of Reading, said this week that while both variants shared some new features, the variant in South Africa “ has some additional mutations ” including more extensive changes to the peak. protein.
The Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine and that of Moderna Inc, which use synthetic messenger RNA technology, can be quickly adapted to target new mutations in a virus as needed. Scientists have suggested that the changes can be made in just six weeks.