Pfizer vaccine likely works against new, more contagious COVID strains, study finds
A preliminary study by drug maker Pfizer found its COVID-19 vaccine candidate seems to be effective against new strains of the virus that are spreading rapidly in the U.K. and South Africa.
Though scientists previously “expressed confidence that currently authorized vaccines would work against” the more contagious strains of the coronavirus, ABC News reported, the results published Thursday are the first to actually analyze their effectiveness.
The laboratory study, conducted by researchers at Pfizer and the University of Texas Medical Branch, has not been peer reviewed and only includes Pfizer’s vaccine — not Moderna or AstraZeneca’s, the Associated Press reported. It included 20 participants who received the vaccine, according to the study.
Still, experts say the results are promising.
Researchers relied on blood samples from people who have been given the Pfizer vaccine, Phil Dormitzer, vice president and chief scientific officer of viral vaccines at Pfizer, told Reuters. But he said it didn’t examine “the full set of mutations” found in the new strains.
It does, however, seem to be effective against the mutation as well as 15 others previously tested, Reuters reported.
“So we’ve now tested 16 different mutations, and none of them have really had any significant impact. That’s the good news.” Dormitzer said, according to Reuters. “That doesn’t mean that the 17th won’t.”
Though viruses mutate regularly, scientists were particularly concerned about mutations in the new strains of COVID-19 because of how rapidly they developed and the impact they had on transmission, McClatchy News reported.
The U.K. strain, for example, developed 17 mutations at once — eight of which involved the molecule the coronavirus uses to infect human cells, according to McClatchy. It first appeared in England in September, prompting a new round of travel restrictions and lockdown measures.
The first case of the U.K. strain in the United States was reported at the end of December in Colorado.
It has since spread to at least eight states, including Texas, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, California, New York and Georgia, McClatchy News reported.
The South Africa strain has had a similarly concerning number of mutations affecting transmission. According to the Wall Street Journal, it has caused a “surge of infections” in South Africa and already spread to other countries in Africa and Europe, though there are no known cases in the U.S.
This story was originally published January 8, 2021 at 1:59 PM with the headline "Pfizer vaccine likely works against new, more contagious COVID strains, study finds."
