Federal health agencies are preparing for the possibility that current COVID-19 vaccines may not be effective against future strains of the coronavirus, Anthony Fauci
Anthony FauciOvernight Health Care: Biden takes steps to increase the number of vaccine doses sent to states | CDC researchers find ‘little evidence’ of major outbreaks in schools, with precautions | Eli Lilly says that the combination of antibodies significantly reduces the risk of death from COVID-19. Biden takes steps to increase the number of vaccine doses sent to states. said Wednesday, but he is confident that pharmaceutical companies will be able to quickly change the formula.
Speaking at an event organized by The Hill, Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that vaccines authorized by the federal government of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna are effective against several strains that have been identified so far.
Fauci noted that treatments with monoclonal antibodies may not necessarily be as effective, but he is not concerned with vaccines.
“We are preparing, in the expectation that the virus will continue to evolve and could reach the point where it crosses the limit that our vaccine is not as effective as we want,” said Fauci.
“We don’t want it to happen. We hope it doesn’t. If it does, we are already doing what is necessary to resolve this,” added Fauci.
Fauci said he was confident the country had a sufficient supply of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, especially if President Biden manages to guarantee 100 million additional doses for each company, a move the president announced on Tuesday.
The calculations do not include Johnson & Johnson, a company that Fauci said was “literally on edge” in the final results of safety and effectiveness tests.
There are currently three variants of the coronavirus that concern specialists and health officials: the B.1.1.7 strain, which was discovered in the United Kingdom; B.1.351, which was found in South Africa; and P.1, which became dominant in Brazil.
Fauci said the technology and science behind vaccines are easily adaptable, so if they need to be updated, it can happen quickly.
“This will make it much easier for us to adapt to the mutants, the new strains that we are seeing in South Africa, in the United Kingdom, in Brazil – the United Kingdom is already in 25 or more states,” Fauci said.
“So it is likely that as we move forward, although our vaccines appear to still be effective against new strains, as the virus evolves, we may need to quickly develop a reinforcement that reflects the circulating mutant so that we can use antibodies to protect, “said Fauci.
Earlier on Wednesday, Fauci said during a briefing at the White House that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will work with the National Institutes of Health to study the effectiveness of vaccines against new strains.
“We will be monitoring in real time the effect of the antibodies that we induce with current vaccines and future vaccines, as to the impact they have on the ability to neutralize these mutants,” said Fauci.
He added that if vaccines start to become less effective, it will be when they will start taking actions such as “making a version of the same vaccine that will in fact be targeted specifically against the relevant mutants”.
Fauci said that “things get a little more problematic” with the B.1.351 strain that is dominant in South Africa.
But Fauci added that the vaccine is effective and “is still well protected”.
Despite some positive developments, Fauci told The Hill that there is still a long way to go and the United States will not be able to approach “some degree of normality” until late fall.
“We have to be prepared for this to be an indescribable virus, that we will have to make some modifications to our interventions, whatever they may be; an improved vaccine, different types of monoclonal antibodies,” said Fauci.
“So, yes, there is light at the end of the tunnel, we will begin to approach some degree of normality as we enter late autumn this year, as we enter winter. But we have to keep an eye on and our pressure on it. otherwise, he can escape it. ”