The COVID-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer and BioNTech were found to be effective in neutralizing the new Brazilian variant according to a study published in New England Journal of Medicine.
The study said that blood taken from people who were vaccinated by the Pfizer brand were able to neutralize an engineered version of the virus that contained the same mutations carried on the spike portion of the highly contagious P.1 variant first identified in Brazil.
Scientists from the companies and the University of Texas Medical Branch conducted the study.
They said that the neutralizing ability was roughly equivalent to the effect of the vaccine on the new COVID-19 mutation.
Pfizer said that its vaccine neutralized other more contagious variants first identified in the United Kingdom and South Africa, although the South African variant may reduce protective antibodies elicited by the vaccine.
The company said that their current vaccine can still offer protection on the more transmissible South Africa variant.
A coronavirus variant found in Brazil is feared to have the tendency to reinfect those who have already survived COVID-19.
Researchers said that the Brazil variant called P.1, carries a mutation that is already known to make a variant prevalent in South Africa harder to treat with antibodies and harder to prevent with available vaccines.
Earlier data showed that those who survived COVID-19 may not be immune with P.1.
A test on the neutralizing ability of antibodies in plasma samples taken from survivors of COVID-19 caused by earlier versions of the virus was conducted by researchers.
“Lower neutralization capacity of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and partial immunity against new variants suggests that reinfection could occur in convalescent or even vaccinated individuals,” the authors said.
In a Reuters report, the same researchers estimated that among every 100 survivors of COVID-19 due to earlier virus versions, 25-to-60 could become reinfected if exposed to the P.1 variant because their antibodies could not protect them. (TDT)
