A research team at the University of Oxford announced Thursday that the AstraZeneca and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines against the coronavirus may provide more protection against the so-called Brazilian strain than was initially thought.
The study has not yet been peer-reviewed and was carried out by the university involved in the development of the AstraZeneca injection.
The researchers found that the vaccines provide protection against the Brazilian variant of the coronavirus P1, which has become dominant in the Amazonian city of Manaus, as it may be less resistant to antibodies.
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“These data suggest that natural and vaccine-induced antibodies may still neutralize these variants, but at lower levels,” the researchers said in a statement, according to Sky News. “It is important to note that the ‘Brazilian’ strain P1 may be less resistant to these antibodies than was initially feared.”
In this archive photo from December 13, 2020, the boxes containing the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine are ready to be shipped to the Pfizer Global Supply Kalamazoo plant in Portage, Michigan (AP Photo / Morry Gash, Pool, File)
The study used blood samples from people who had natural antibodies after being infected with the coronavirus, as well as those who received the Pfizer-BioNTech or AstraZeneca vaccines.
“The results suggest that P1 may be less resistant to the vaccine and convalescent immune responses than B1351 [South Africa], and similar to B117 [UK], ”Prof. Gavin Screaton, the study’s chief scientist, told the Guardian.
“He found a nearly three-fold reduction in the level of neutralization of the virus by antibodies generated by the Oxford and Pfizer vaccines for the [UK] and Brazil variants when compared to the original strain, and a nine and 7.6 times reduction, respectively, in relation to the South Africa variant, ”said Screaton.
Earlier this month, researchers in a study by Pfizer-BioNTech and researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch said that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is capable of defeating the Brazilian strain.
They wrote that the vaccine was approximately as effective against the Brazilian strain as it was against another mutation that originated in Britain and is now the most prevalent strain in Israel, and “robust, but inferior” to deal with a South African variant.
As countries around the world rush to vaccinate people, concerns are growing that more transmissible variants may be more resistant to existing vaccines.
Pfizer said in February that it would test a new version of its vaccine designed to combat the South African variant, as well as the effectiveness of a third dose against other mutations.
Brazil recorded almost 280,000 deaths from the virus. The number of victims has worsened recently, with the nation averaging more than 1,800 deaths a day, while health systems in major cities are on the verge of collapse.
The agencies contributed to this report.
