World

Pfizer jab effective against UK, S. African variants: study

But, full set of spike mutations not reflected in engineered viruses used in research

Updated 5 years ago · Published on 09 Feb 2021 5:00PM

Pfizer jab effective against UK, S. African variants: study
A study has found that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is effective against the South African and UK strains of the virus, but researchers warn that the viruses engineered for the study do not reflect the full spectrum of spike mutations observed in actual cases. – AFP pic, February 9, 2021

ANKARA – The Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine is effective against the South African and British variants of the virus, the companies announced yesterday, Anadolu Agency reported.

They cited a study published in Natural Medicine that said the vaccine elicits antibodies that neutralised mutated versions of the virus that first appeared in the UK and South Africa.

A panel of human sera from 20 participants were tested by researchers after they were given the shot against viruses with key mutations.

“A limitation of the current study is that the engineered viruses do not include the full set of spike mutations found in the UK or South African variants,” the study warned.

The study was published after a separate study revealed Sunday that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is less effective against the South African variant. – Bernama, February 9, 2021

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