The American pharmaceutical company Moderna is trying to defuse fears about a new variant of SARS-CoV-2 spreading rapidly across Europe, saying it has “confidence” that its vaccine will still be effective against the new strain. “Based on the data to date, Moderna hopes that the vaccine-induced immunity of Moderna COVID-19 will be protective against the variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus recently described in the United Kingdom,” the statement released Wednesday night. fair, read.
The press release comes a day after BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin shared a similar sentiment during a meeting with reporters, saying he is sure that the vaccine his company created with Pfizer will successfully block the new variant. “Scientifically, it is highly likely that the immune response to this vaccine can also handle new variants of the virus,” said Sahin.
The variant, known as “B117”, is considered 70 percent more contagious than the current strain that circulates in the United States and can be responsible for up to 60 percent of cases in London. Although there is no evidence that it causes more serious illnesses, it has been found to contain many mutations, one of which is currently taking off in South Africa.
Still, both BioNTech and Moderna seem firm in the belief that their existing vaccines will be sufficient to stop the new strain. Part of this, it seems, focuses on the fact that both vaccines use messenger RNA, a new technology that works by encoding the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in cells. This is important because, despite the differences between the two strains, the new variant represents – according to the two companies – a “difference of less than 1 percent” in proteins.
Equally confident about the vaccine’s ability to prevent new mutations is Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. “It is not easy for viruses to escape a vaccine in such a short period of time, especially since the virus was not really exposed to people who were vaccinated,” Adalja told Yahoo Life.
In addition to the fact that vaccines are just beginning to spread, he says vaccines activate the immune system in more ways than one. “Vaccines induce not just one antibody, but many different antibodies and also induce T cell immunity,” says Adalja. T cells, also known as “soldiers” of the immune system, can act on many different viruses, so he says they can “neutralize” the virus.
Dr. Andrew Badley, head of the Mayo Clinic task force COVID-19, told Yahoo Life in a statement that his team is “closely following developments and research underway”, but that the current situation should not be changed. alarm reason. “We know that the virus mutates 1 to 2 times a month, so it’s not a surprise,” says Badley. He notes that some of the new mutations are of concern because they “increase the ease of entry of the virus into cells” and “can help prevent antibodies”, but so far they do not appear to be a threat to vaccines.
“So far, there is no evidence that the new viral variant escapes immunity, nor does it resist current therapies,” says Badley. “So, this is good news for now. It is a reminder that we must continue to take precautions: wear masks, distance yourself socially, continue to wash your hands well and often ”
In the event that one of the new mutations in the virus manages to escape the immunity created by the vaccine, both Adalja and Sahin say it will probably not be difficult to reformulate the vaccine to include them. “If there was a problem because it is an mRNA, it can be easily updated to include an alternative strain,” says Adalja. “But I don’t think that will get to that point.”
Sahin of BioNTech, during Tuesday’s press conference, agreed. “In principle, the beauty of messenger technology is that we can start designing a vaccine directly that completely mimics this new mutation,” he said. “We might be able to deliver a new vaccine technically in six weeks.”
To latest coronavirus news and updates, go together on https://news.yahoo.com/coronavirus. According to experts, people over 60 and immunocompromised continue to be at greater risk. If you have questions, consult the CDC‘sand Who is it resource guides.