Pfizer/BioNTech tests vaccine against new coronavirus variant

The German laboratory BioNTech, a partner at Pfizer, hopes to have the first results of the studies that will determine whether the new variant of Covid-19 detected in South Africa is capable of escaping the protection of the vaccine within two weeks.

“We immediately started studies on the B.1.1.529 variant, which clearly differs from the already known variants because it has additional mutations in the spike protein characteristic of the Sars-CoV-2 virus,” a laboratory spokesperson told AFP.

“Pfizer and BioNTech were prepared several months ago to adjust their vaccine in less than six weeks and deliver the first doses within 100 days in the case of a resistant variant,” he added.

The new variant has 50 mutations in total and more than 30 in protein S, the most worrying, because it is from this that vaccines are produced.

Until then, there is not enough research on how the variant works or how it reacts to vaccines and antibodies of those who developed natural immunity. According to the WHO, it may take a few weeks until the impact of it is better understood.

However, some preliminary data indicate that the variant has increased rapidly in Gauteng province, the most populous in South Africa, and may already be present in the other eight provinces in the country.

Testing, such as the one planned by BioNTech, to determine whether current immunizers work against new variants has taken place before.

Published in July 2021 in the New England Journal of Medicine, a study indicated that two doses of the vaccine from Pfizer or AstraZeneca are almost as effective against the delta variant as compared to the alpha variant, previously dominant in several countries around the world.

In the case of Pfizer, the survey found an effectiveness of 88% in preventing symptomatic delta diseases, compared with 93.7% against alpha. For AstraZeneca, the efficacy was 67% against the delta variant, compared to 74.5% against alpha.

The two vaccines are among those authorized for use in Brazil. The country already has more than 60% of the population with the complete vaccination cycle, according to data from the Consortium of Press Vehicles this Thursday (25).