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*Note: this paper is being presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) and is being published in
The Lancet Microbe. Please credit both the congress and the journal in your stories*
A new study presented at this year's European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) and published in
The Lancet Microbe, shows that antibodies generated by CoronaVac, an inactivated COVID-19 vaccine, work less well against the P.1 Brazil (Gamma) variant.
It also suggests that the P.1 variant may be able to reinfect individuals who previously had COVID-19.
The SARS-CoV-2 virus spike protein is the primary target of neutralising antibodies - antibodies that block the entry of the virus into cells - including those induced by vaccines. The emergence of variants with multiple mutations in this protein has raised concerns that neutralising antibody responses, and so the effectiveness of vaccination programmes, could be compromised.