Revealing a "milestone" in the Pfizer vaccine
The Pfizer vaccine against Covid-19 has proven its ability to neutralize the emerging corona virus mutant, which was first discovered in Brazil, in a new laboratory study that provided a positive sign of the vaccine’s effectiveness.
The researchers wrote in a letter to the "New England Medical Journal", that neutralizing the Brazilian mutant from the emerging corona virus, known as P.1, was "almost equivalent" to neutralizing the original strain of the virus, which the "Pfizer" vaccine proved to be very effective against.
The P.1 mutated strain has raised the concern of health authorities, due to the increase in the number of infections it causes in Brazil.
The chief infectious disease expert in the United States, Dr. Anthony Fauci, warned last week that there are "initial reports" indicating that the mutated virus is more contagious, and that the antibodies produced by vaccines "may be less effective."
But the results published by researchers from the company "Pfizer", its German partner "Biontech", and the medical branch of the University of Texas, were reassuring.
As expected, the study also demonstrated a strong neutralization of the B.1.1.7 mutant, which was first detected in the United Kingdom.
With regard to the virus mutation first discovered in South Africa, known as B.1.351, which is of most concern, given its potential ability to weaken the effectiveness of vaccines to some extent, the study found that neutralizing this variable was "strong, but less."
University of Washington biology professor Karl Bergstrom welcomed the results of the study, and said in a tweet on Twitter: "We see high neutralizing activity against all strains against which the vaccine was tested, including P.1, which is spreading very quickly in Brazil."
The professor added that the vaccine activity, although diminished "against the B.1.351 strain from South Africa, is still very impressive."
The study authors cautioned that their findings are based on an in vitro study, and ultimately must be validated with factual evidence.