Name: Pfizer’s Covid vaccine ‘works against UK and South African strains’
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Pfizer’s Covid vaccine ‘works against UK and South African strains’

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’s coronavirus can provide protection against the UK and variants, new research suggests.The variants caused global concern after it was revealed that they share a common mutation in the spike protein, .Pfizer teamed up with researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston for laboratory tests to see if the mutation affected the ability of its vaccine to recognize the spike protein and fight it.The researchers used blood samples from 20 people who had received the Pfizer vaccine and discovered that antibodies from the vaccine recipients successfully fended off the virus in lab dishes.The study, which was posted late on Thursday on an online site for scientists, is preliminary and has yet to be reviewed by experts.Pfizer chief scientific officer Dr Philip Dormitzer said "it was a very reassuring finding that at least this mutation, which was one of the ones people are most concerned about, does not seem to be a problem" for the vaccine.The South African and UK variants share the N501Y mutation, but the South African strain also includes mutations known as E484K and K417N. &nbsp;Both are said to differ from because it has multiple mutations in the important spike protein that the virus uses to infect human cells.According to health authorities, the 501.V2 variant is now responsible for 80 per cent to 90 per cent of new cases in South Africa.The UK variant, thought to have originated in Kent, is thought to be in London and the South East.The Pfizer study found that the vaccine appeared to work against 15 additional possible virus mutations, but the E484K was not among those that there tested. Dr Dormitzer said it is next on the list.Daniel Altmann, professor of immunology at Imperial College London, said: “The antibody response that blocks spike entry is ‘multi-epitope’ — targeted to several bits — so it was unlikely that protection would be significantly impaired.“Neutralisation of the variant looks excellent from this study.”Top US infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci recently said vaccines are designed to recognise multiple parts of the spike protein, making it unlikely a single mutation could be enough to block them. But scientists around the world are conducting research with different vaccines to find out.Scientists at Porton Down in Wiltshire, England are researching whether vaccines will be effective against the UK variant.Dr Dormitzer explained that if the virus eventually mutates enough that the vaccine needs adjusting, much like the flu jabs that are often adjusted, then the changing the recipe would not be too difficult for Pfizer and similar companies who have developed Covid-19 vaccines.He added that this was only the beginning "of ongoing monitoring of virus changes to see if any of them might impact on vaccine coverage."Sian Griffiths, who co-chaired the Hong Kong inquiry into the 2003 Sars outbreak, said the outcome of the study was “good news”.Professor Griffiths, an epidemiologist who also serves on an advisory board for Public Health England, told BBC Breakfast: “There’s some good news this morning – it’s not a peer-reviewed paper yet but it’s a report from Texas University where they took blood from patients who had been immunised and tested it against both the Kent and the South African strain and the results were very positive, meaning that the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine does protect against those variants and also other variants.”She said the UK’s “good genomics” had allowed scientists here to understand the new variant which pushed infections up in London and the South East of England.“Other countries are needing to do more work on which variant it is that’s pushing their numbers up, and what we need to do is have these amazing scientific advances that we’ve made through the pandemic apply to making sure that vaccines do cover variants and therefore provide protection,” said Professor Griffiths.“So the good news this morning is that it appears that the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine does protect against the South Africa strain, so people can rest assured that that particular strain isn’t escaping the population.”Health chiefs are now in a race against the virus to get millions vaccinated as quickly as possible.With some GPs having to postpone vaccination appointments due to jab shortages, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told LBC Radio: “If you are distributing more vaccinations than every other country in Europe put together, one-and-a-half million so far, then I have no doubt along the road there will be a few bumps and logistics issues.”Boris Johnson has set the goal of more than 13 million shots by mid-February, for the over 70s, frontline health and social care workers, care home residents, as well as other individuals vulnerable to Covid.However, this would require a huge step-up in delivery of vaccinations, with the Prime Minister pledging this would reach 200,000-a-day next week.Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi and health chiefs will be questioned next week by the Commons science and technology committee about the progress of the roll-out of the Oxford/AstraZeneca and the Pfizer jabs.Additional reporting by Associated Press.Sign up for exclusive newsletters, comment on stories, enter competitions and attend events.ALREADY HAVE AN ACCOUNT? 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’s coronavirus can provide protection against the UK and variants, new research suggests.The variants caused global concern after it was revealed that they share a common mutation in the spike protein, .Pfizer teamed up with researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston for laboratory tests to see if the mutation affected the ability of its vaccine to recognize the spike protein and fight it.The researchers used blood samples from 20 people who had received the Pfizer vaccine and discovered that antibodies from the vaccine recipients successfully fended off the virus...

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The Evening Standard (also the London Evening Standard) is a local, Russian-owned free daily newspaper, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format in London. Since 2009 it has been owned by Russian businessman Alexander Lebedev. It is the dominant local/regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London finance. Its current editor is former UK Conservative Member of Parliament and Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne. In October 2009, the paper ended a 180-year history of paid circulation and became a free newspaper, doubling its circulation as part of a change in its business plan.

Pfizer’s Covid vaccine ‘works against UK and South African strains’

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