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How fast could a mutated coronavirus vaccine come?

2021-01-06T15:52:49.419Z


The British corona mutant shouldn't be a problem for the vaccine. But with the variant from South Africa it could look different. And what happens if the pathogen continues to change?


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Corona vaccination in Italy

Photo: costa1ftg / IPA / imago images

They first appeared in the UK and South Africa: new variants of the coronavirus that are worrying medical professionals.

These pathogens can spread from person to person much more easily than before.

And that in turn means that they can only be contained with even stricter measures.

This is one of the reasons why Prime Minister Boris Johnson has sent his country into a strict lockdown.

The new virus variants observed in Great Britain and South Africa differ significantly from one another.

However, they each have several mutations on the so-called spike protein.

With its help, the pathogen gets into the body cells.

The spike protein is also used by the corona vaccines - regardless of the manufacturer - to prepare the immune system of vaccinated persons for later contact with the pathogen.

In this way, the body's defenses are prepared if they should encounter the virus.

Are the changed viruses now endangering the success of the corona vaccination, which is just starting with difficulty?

Experts have largely given the all-clear to this anxious question, at least for the time being.

Some are most likely to worry about the variant from South Africa because it has two additional mutations at crucial points.

"That doesn't mean that the existing Covid-19 vaccines don't work at all," says virologist Julian Tang from the University of Leicester, UK.

It is possible, however, that the antibodies induced by the current vaccines "may not bind and neutralize the South African variant as well as the other circulating viruses - including the British variant".

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Source: spiegel

All tech articles on 2021-01-06

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