Researchers have urged governments to delay administering the second dose of Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine, which they said had an efficacy of 92.6% after the first dose.
February 18, 2021
published at 12:46 AMReuters
Pfizer and BioNTech said they were doing similar lab work to understand whether their vaccine is effective against another variant first found in Brazil.
Reuters
CHICAGO - A laboratory study suggests that the South African variant of the coronavirus may reduce antibody protection from the Pfizer Inc/BioNTech SE vaccine by two-thirds, and it is not clear if the shot will be effective against the mutation, the companies said on Wednesday (Feb 17).
The study found the vaccine was still able to neutralise the virus and there is not yet evidence from trials in people that the variant reduces vaccine protection, the companies said.
Pfizer says South Africa Covid variant could reduce vaccine protection by TWO-THIRDS as it rushes to produce updated jab thesun.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thesun.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
South African variant could significantly reduce vaccine protection, says Pfizer
Pfizer and BioNTech said they were doing similar lab work to understand whether their vaccine is effective against another variant first found in Brazil
Reuters | February 18, 2021 | Updated 08:21 IST
The spike, used by the virus to enter human cells, is the primary target of many COVID-19 vaccines
A laboratory study suggests that the South African variant of the coronavirus may reduce antibody protection from the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine by two-thirds, and it is not clear if the shot will be effective against the mutation, the companies said on Wednesday.
The study found the vaccine was still able to neutralize the virus and there is not yet evidence from trials in people that the variant reduces vaccine protection, the companies said. Still, they are making investments and talking to regulators about developing an updated version of their mRNA vaccine or a booster shot, if needed.