02/18/2021 8:44 AM
Clarín.com
Society
Updated 02/18/2021 8:44 AM
The new strains of the coronavirus that appeared in recent months generated a new alert for the scientific world, amid the constant development of vaccines to control the pandemic.
And in the last few hours, bleak news broke: Two studies suggest that the South African variant
reduced the effectiveness of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna developments.
The first of the lab studies found that the South African variant can reduce
the neutralizing antibodies generated by the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine by two-thirds,
although the antidote may still be able to protect against this strain.
According to
The Washington Post
, the analysis was carried out by the companies together with researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) and was published this Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).
As part of the research, the scientists developed a modified virus that had all the mutations found in the South African variant.
When tested with blood taken from people who had received the vaccine, they found
a two-thirds reduction in the level of neutralizing antibodies
compared to the effect of the drug on the most common version of the virus prevalent in the US trials.
“We don't know what the minimum neutralization number is.
We don't have that cut-off line, ”said UTMB professor and study co-author Pei-Yong Shi, who said that he believes Pfizer's vaccine will likely protect against the variant anyway.
Moderna also published a study with similar previously disclosed data in NEJM on Wednesday that showed a six-fold drop in antibody levels to the South African variant.
In any case, the pharmaceutical company also assured that the real efficacy of its vaccine against the South African variant has yet to be determined.
The company has previously said that it believes the vaccine will work against the variant.
JPE
Look also
Coronavirus in Brazil: alarm in Rio due to the appearance of British and Amazonian strains in several patients
How the “made in Luxembourg” freezer works, suitable for all coronavirus vaccines
