Last month, COVID’s numbers stagnated, and recently, they have started to rise again on a dangerous trajectory that suggests that we are far from out of danger. Experts say the rise in the US case count is likely due to two things: relaxed restrictions and the presence of new, more contagious variants from the UK, Brazil and South Africa. These strains add a new unpredictable element to the pandemic, which many Medical professionals warn that it can frustrate our efforts to achieve collective immunity.
However, there are many reasons to be cautiously optimistic about the future of the pandemic, with vaccines being the main ones. With three highly effective shots on the market, we now have a way to resist these new variants of COVID, slowing their spread. And while any of the current vaccines May To be effective against emerging variants, only one company has formally evaluated its own product and concluded that it is effective against these new threats. Read on to find out which vaccine has been put to the test and for more breaking news about vaccines, check out Pfizer Vaccine Protects You for At Least This Time, Discover the Study.
A team of researchers from Pfizer and the University of Texas Medical Branch decided to answer the question of whether vaccines designed to combat older variants of COVID protect against newer strains. Finally, by publishing its results in the New England Journal of Medicine in March, they set up a laboratory trial to test antibodies on serum samples from 15 volunteers who received both doses of the vaccine. Within this small sample, they found that the vaccine generated a “substantial” antibody response to laboratory-engineered versions of the virus variants.
“Taken together, these results indicate that this vaccine is likely to be effective against the variants studied, although precisely how effective they are in the real world will require data on the real effect of the vaccine on populations, not just in laboratory studies like this , “reports BBC Science Focus magazine. New studies are likely to examine other aspects of the immune response, including T-cell (cellular) immunity, they explain. And for more COVID news delivered straight to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.
Although the Pfizer vaccine appears to protect against all new variants, the study found that it did vary in degrees, depending on the type of variant. The team found that the shot was more protective against the original strain and variant B.1.1.7 first detected in the United Kingdom, while eliciting a slightly lesser response against variant P.1 in Brazil. The Pfizer vaccine was found to be less against variant B.1.351 first identified in South Africa.
“It is reassuring, although the levels were lower for the [Brazilian and South African] variants, they were still substantial and probably indicate that the vaccine will be effective, ” Peter English, MD, a consultant in communicable disease control, said Focus on Science. And to learn more about Pfizer’s injection performance, check out The Pfizer vaccine is 100 percent effective for people of that age, the study says.
As Reuters reports, Pfizer announced a Phase 3 update of its test data on April 1: the two-dose vaccine is now considered to be 91 percent effective, an overall effectiveness rate slightly lower than previously announced.
The additional data came from 12,000 individuals who were inoculated for at least six months, as well as “a small subset of study volunteers in South Africa”, where variant B.1.351 is prevalent. Although at face value, this may appear to tarnish the results of the initial trial of 44,000 volunteers, this news actually confirms that the Pfizer vaccine offers potent protection in an increasingly complicated pandemic scenario.
And to learn more about how Pfizer is affecting patients, see The side effect that is much more common with Pfizer, shows data.
While the current Pfizer vaccine appears to offer significant protection against COVID variants, the company recently reiterated that it is still anticipating the need for booster vaccines and an improved vaccine.
On February 25, the drugmaker announced that it would begin evaluating booster doses against the new variants. “We want to be prepared for different scenarios,” Ugur Sahin, CEO and co-founder of BioNTech, which co-created the Pfizer vaccine, said in the announcement. “Therefore, we will be evaluating a second reinforcement in the current regime, as well as preparing for a potential rapid adaptation of the vaccine to deal with new variants that may escape the current version of our mRNA-based vaccine.” And to learn more about the effectiveness of the Pfizer vaccine, check out The Pfizer vaccine may be less effective if you have this common condition.