NEW YORK (Reuters) – The COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE was able to neutralize a new variant of the coronavirus that spread rapidly in Brazil, according to a laboratory study published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Monday.
The blood collected from people who had received the vaccine neutralized a modified version of the virus that contained the same mutations carried in the spiny portion of the highly contagious P.1 variant first identified in Brazil, a study conducted by scientists from the companies and from the Found Department Doctor at the University of Texas.
The scientists said the neutralization capacity was roughly equivalent to the vaccine’s effect on an earlier, less contagious version of last year’s virus.
The peak, used by the virus to enter human cells, is the main target of many COVID-19 vaccines.
In previously published studies, Pfizer found that its vaccine neutralized other, more contagious variants first identified in the UK and South Africa, although the South African variant may reduce the protective antibodies produced by the vaccine.
Pfizer said it believes its current vaccine is very likely to still protect against the South African variant. However, the drugmaker is planning to test a third booster dose of its vaccine, as well as a redesigned version specifically to combat the variant, in order to better understand the immune response.
Reporting by Michael Erman; Bill Berkrot’s Edition