A recent study found that one of the new strains of the new Corona virus "Covid-19" reduces the level of antibodies formed after receiving the "Pfizer-BioNTech" vaccine by two thirds, so what is this strain?

What does this mean for vaccine efficacy?

What are the latest data about Corona vaccines and trials on the virus?

The answers are here.

We start from the study, which was published in the "New England Journal of Medicine", and found that the South African strain reduced the antibodies by two thirds.

The two companies, "Pfizer" and "BioNTech" - according to "Reuters" (Reuters) - said that the study indicates that the South African strain of the Corona virus may reduce the protection provided by the antibodies produced through the two companies' vaccine by two thirds.

But the two companies also stated that the study concluded that the vaccine is still able to neutralize the virus, and no evidence has yet emerged from human trials to confirm that the South African strain reduces the protection provided by the vaccine.

However, the two companies have made investments and approached the relevant authorities to develop an updated version of the vaccine or produce a booster dose.

For the study, scientists from the two companies and the medical branch at the University of Texas at the University of Texas developed a genetic engineering virus that included changes to the protruding part of the highly contagious mutated strain that was discovered in South Africa.

And those protruding parts are what the virus invades human cells, and they are also the primary target of many Covid-19 vaccines.

The researchers tested the modified virus in blood extracted from individuals who had received the vaccine, and discovered a two-third reduction in the level of neutralization of the antibodies, compared with the effectiveness of the vaccine on the most common type of virus in US trials.

And because there is no fixed standard yet to determine the level of antibodies required to prevent the virus, it is not clear yet whether a decrease by two-thirds will eliminate the effectiveness of the vaccine in fighting the strain that is spreading around the world.

However, Bi-Yong Shi, a professor at the University of Texas and co-chair of the team that conducted the study, said he believed the Pfizer vaccine would likely provide protection against the strain.

The company "Moderna" - which has developed a vaccine for Corona based on the same Pfizer Bionic vaccine technology, which is "messenger RNA" (mRNA) - has published correspondence in the New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday, with similar data showing "a decrease to A sixth-fold drop in antibody levels versus the South African strain, according to a report in The Guardian.

Moderna also said that the actual effectiveness of the vaccine against the South African strain has not yet been determined.

The company said earlier it believed the vaccine would work against the alternative.

Two researchers are urging to delay the vaccination with the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine

Two researchers urged governments to postpone vaccination with the second dose of the Pfizer-Bionic vaccine, which they say has 92.6% effectiveness after the first dose.

The researchers, Danuta Skoronsky and Gaston de Serres, said they concluded that conclusion based on documents Pfizer provided to the US Food and Drug Administration.

And they mentioned in a letter published in the New England Journal of Medicine that these results are similar to those related to the vaccine produced by Moderna, and its effectiveness rate after the first dose was 92.1%.

Cautions that there may be uncertainty about the duration of protection with a single dose;

However, vaccination with the second dose a month after the first "provides little benefit in the short term."

"Given the current shortage of vaccines, delaying the second dose is a matter of national security, if ignored, it will definitely lead to thousands of hospitalizations and deaths due to Covid-19 this winter in the United States," they said.

In response, Pfizer said that a change in the vaccination regime with two doses of the vaccine has not yet been evaluated, adding that this decision is left to the health authorities.

Deliberate injury to Corona

Britain has approved a study that will intentionally infect volunteers with Corona, and through this new study, researchers hope to learn things about how the immune system responds to the Corona virus.

In his report, published by the American New York Times, writer Benjamin Mueller said that a carefully selected small group of volunteers is expected to arrive during the coming weeks to receive Coronavirus infection by putting small drops of the virus in their noses.

Ultimately, researchers hope to be able to use this trial as a way to compare the effectiveness of different vaccines.

Before that, the project's supporters should uncover the volunteers who have not been vaccinated to determine the lowest dose of the virus that will make them ill.

By controlling the dose of the virus that people receive and monitoring them from the moment they are infected, scientists hope to discover how the immune system responds to the Coronavirus, and develop methods to directly compare the efficacy of treatments and vaccines.

For his part, Peter Openshaw, professor of experimental medicine at Imperial College London and a co-author of the study, said, "We will learn a lot about virus immunity."

Openshaw added that the study will enable them "to accelerate the understanding of diseases caused by infection, and to discover new treatments and vaccines alike."

Overall, the focus of this study, which has been dubbed the Human Challenge Experience, has been the subject of widespread controversy since the early months of the outbreak.

To try to ensure that participants do not become seriously ill, the British study will be limited to healthy volunteers, between the ages of 18 and 30.

On the other hand, severe cases of infection with the Coronavirus have occurred even among young adults, and the long-term consequences of the infection are largely unknown.

Age restrictions may also make it difficult to crystallize results for the elderly or people who have been previously infected with the virus, and whose immune responses may be different, in addition to being the targets of treatments and vaccines.

In the first part of the study, researchers will administer small doses of the virus to a small group of volunteers.

If they do not become infected, the researchers will provide slightly larger doses to a different group of volunteers, with the process repeated for up to 90 participants until the appropriate dose is determined.

By the spring of this year, scientists hope to repeat their experiment by exposing vaccinated people to the virus.

The British government, which is helping to fund the study, will help choose vaccines.