A variant of coronavirus identified in South Africa may not be as vulnerable to COVID-19 vaccines as other strains, say some scientists.
Studies are underway to find out if this is indeed the case.
If the variant, known as 501.V2, is resistant to available vaccines, the vaccines can be adjusted to increase their effectiveness – adjustments that would take about six weeks to make, vaccine developers told Reuters.
These developers included BioNTech CEO Dr. Uğur Şahin and John Bell, Professor of Medicine Regius at Oxford University, who are currently running experiments with 501.V2 and the new coronavirus variant identified in the UK, called B. 1.1.7.
These experiments are called neutralization assays – experiments in which they incubate viruses with antibodies and human cells, to see if antibodies prevent infection, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
They are testing blood from vaccinated people and those who contracted the virus and developed antibodies naturally, said Dr. Richard Lessells, an infectious disease specialist who is working on 501.V2 genomic studies in South Africa, to the AP .
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In general, it is not surprising that variants such as 501.V2 and B.1.1.7 have emerged; all viruses acquire mutations as they make copies of themselves, and the new coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2 is no exception.
However, while the two recently identified variants share some similar mutations, and 501.V2 “has a number of additional mutations … that are worrying,” Simon Clarke, associate professor of cell microbiology at the University of Reading, told Reuters.
Specifically, the variant found in South Africa has more mutations in its spike protein – which protrudes from the surface of the virus and is used to invade human cells – than B.1.1.7, Lawrence Young, virologist and professor of molecular oncology at Warwick University, told Reuters.
Most of the available vaccines train the immune system to recognize this peak protein. If the spike protein accumulates too many mutations, it can become unrecognizable to the immune system, allowing the virus to avoid detection in the body; this is the potential concern with the new 501.V2 variant, Young said.
That said, neutralization tests should soon reveal whether or not we need to worry. As of now, Public Health England, an executive agency for the Department of Health and Welfare, said there is currently no evidence to suggest that the COVID-19 vaccines will not protect against B.1.1.7 and 501.V2, Reuters reported.
In addition, several experts said The New York Times it would probably take years, not months, for the coronavirus to mutate enough to overcome the available vaccines.
“It will be a process that takes place over several years and requires the accumulation of multiple viral mutations,” said Jesse Bloom, evolutionary biologist at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. The times.
“It won’t be like an on-off switch,” in terms of how quickly new variants become resistant to current vaccines, he said.
In other words, vaccines may gradually become less effective over time, rather than suddenly stop working.
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This article was originally published by Live Science. Read the original article here.