Jakarta, CNN Indonesia –
The researcher stated a new variant of the corona virus SARS-CoV-2 found in English and South Africa (South Africa) did not affect the work of the Covid-19 vaccine made by Pfizer-BioNTech. The findings were obtained after researchers examined serum samples from 20 people who received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
The new variant of the SARS-CoV-2 corona virus found in the UK and South Africa is known to share a common mutation called N501Y. The variant has several mutations in glycoprotein S, which is the main target of viral neutralizing antibodies.
The mutation is of particular concern because it lies at the site of binding to viral receptors to enter cells, increases binding to the receptor (angiotensin 2 converting enzyme), and allows the virus to expand its host range to infect.
“There is no reason to think that the vaccine will not work as well on this strain,” Frederic Bushman of the University of Pennsylvania, launched The Scientist.
Scientists at the University of Texas Medical Branch are known to engineer a version of SARS-CoV-2 with the N501Y mutation to study in mice when a new variant emerges.
The researchers worked with scientists at Pfizer to expose serum, a component of blood that contains antibodies, from vaccine recipients to engineered viruses.
As a result, they found no difference in neutralization between the N501Y virus and the original Y501 sequence virus.
Pfizer has actually tested its vaccine against dozens of other mutations beforehand. Ultimately, all of these mutations did not affect the vaccine.
“So we’ve now tested 16 different mutations, and none of them had any significant effect. That’s the good news,” said Philip Dormitzer, vice president of Pfizer.
Launch Statnews, the scientists engineered a version of the virus to include a mutation called N501Y. The scientists then compared how well blood drawn from 20 people who had received the vaccine fended off a mutated form of the virus versus an earlier form.
“There was no reduction in neutralizing activity against the virus carrying the Y501 spike,” the researchers said in the journal published in Biorxiv. The journal is still preprinted and has not been peer reviewed.
In the journal, it was stated that the ongoing evolution of SARS-CoV-2 requires continuous monitoring, especially on the importance of changing vaccine coverage. The surveillance also needs to be accompanied by preparations for possible future mutations of SARS-CoV-2 which may require a change in vaccine strain.
(jps / DAL)
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