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BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine is less potent against South African variant

Covid-19 jab still works but produces only a third of the antibodies it did for original virus, study finds

The BioNTech/Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine appears to be significantly less effective against the virus variant that emerged in South Africa, according to a study published on Wednesday.

The vaccine still works against the strain known as 501Y.V2, but the shot produced only a third of the antibodies that it did for the original virus in a lab study using an engineered virus.

The partners said there was “no clinical evidence” that people vaccinated with their Covid-19 shot lacked protection against the variant. It is hard to draw firm conclusions from lab experiments on how the vaccines will work on the variants in humans.

But they said they were making investments and talking to regulators so they could seek authorisation for an updated vaccine or a booster shot “once a strain that significantly reduces protection from the vaccine is identified”. ...

The paper, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, is based on experiments using the blood of 20 vaccine trial participants. The scientists from Pfizer, BioNTech and the University of Texas Medical Branch tested three different genetically engineered viruses, one with all the mutations of 501Y.V2, and two with subsets of the changes.

https://www.ft.com/content/2eb05859-...8-fa50fa6ca7da