The Brazilian variant of the coronavirus, originally from the state of Amazonas (P.1), can escape the antibodies generated by the vaccine from the Chinese laboratory in Sinovac, known as Coronavac, according to a preliminary study led by two Brazilian universities.
The results were obtained from a small sample of eight patients who received two doses of the Chinese immunizer, which has been the most widely used so far in the South American country, one of the most affected by the pandemic.
Scientists from the University of Sao Paulo (USP) and the University of Campinas (Unicamp) collected plasma from those eight volunteers who participated in clinical trials with the Sinovac formula and tested its effectiveness with the line first discovered in January this year, in Manaus, capital of Amazonas.
Analysis of the data “suggests that P.1. Could escape neutralizing antibodies induced by an inactivated virus vaccine,” as is the case with Coronavac, the report said.
The study was published yesterday in The Lancet magazine’s section of articles not yet reviewed by other scientists.
The authors stressed that research with larger samples is needed to confirm their findings and stated that in severe cases of COVID-19, not only the antibodies produced by Coronavac are involved, but other elements of the immune system, such as memory lymphocytes, as well.
In this sense, they believe that in order to stop the spread of the new strain across the country, it may be necessary to administer a third booster dose of the modified vaccine for the Brazilian variant or other.
The study also indicates that the antibodies produced by a person previously infected with the coronavirus do not appear to be able to block the Brazilian variant, analysis of the plasma of 19 patients who managed to overcome covid-19 shows before the emergence of the new species.
“P.1 can escape the antibody responses generated by a previous SARS-CoV-2 infection, so reinfection could be plausible with variants with mutations in the ‘spike’ protein,” noted the researchers.
The ‘spike’ protein is the element that the coronavirus uses to enter human cells and mutations in this region have been associated with a higher rate of virus infections.
The preliminary results of this study are in line with two others published last week that suggest that P.1 may have one to ten times higher viral load, making it more transmissible, and able to bypass the immune system from those people who already had antibodies.
According to official data, cases of the Brazilian variant have already been discovered in 17 of the country’s 27 states, as well as other countries, that have chosen to temporarily suspend flights from Brazil to prevent it from spreading into their territory.
Brazil is the second country with the most deaths related to covid-19, at nearly 256,000, and the third with the most infected, with 10.6 million cases, although health experts estimate that the latter number could be two or three times higher. can be.
Since November, the country has been facing a “second wave” of infections more virulent and deadly than the first, which has forced regional and municipal governments to tighten up social measures.