Pfizer Vaccine Is Able To Neutralize The New Covid-19 Variant from Brazil

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – The Covid-19 vaccines from Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE are able to neutralize them a new variant of Covid-19 which is spreading rapidly in Brazil, according to a laboratory study published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Monday.

Blood drawn from people who have been given the Pfizer vaccine neutralizes the engineered version of the virus containing the same mutation that was carried on the spike The highly contagious P.1 variant virus first identified in Brazil, a study conducted by scientists from the company and the University of Texas Medical Branch was found, according to a Reuters report, March 9, 2021.

Scientists say the neutralizing ability is roughly equivalent to the vaccine’s effect on a less contagious version of the virus earlier than last year.

Spike, which are used by viruses to enter human cells, are the main targets of many the Covid-19 vaccine.

Pfizer Inc, one of the largest biopharmaceutical companies in the world from the United States, and BioNTech, a German biotechnology company, make the Covid-19 vaccine.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), people receive this vaccine in two doses, with the second dose given about 21 days after the first. However, occasionally, a person may not receive a second dose until 6 weeks after the first dose.

According to Medical News Today, the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine works by inserting molecules into cells, known as messenger RNA (mRNA). This molecule teaches cells to make proteins from the virus that causes Covid-19, namely SARS-CoV-2.

The body detects this protein and triggers an immune response. This creates antibodies, as well as more durable immunity that can fight future SARS-CoV-2 infections.

Also read: Report From Israel: Pfizer Vaccine Effectiveness Reaches 94 Percent

In previously published studies, Pfizer has found that its vaccine neutralizes another, more infectious variant that was first identified in the UK and South Africa, although the South African variant can reduce the protective antibodies generated by the vaccine.

Pfizer said it believes its current vaccine is likely to still protect recipients against the South African variant. However, Pfizer plans to test a third booster dose of their vaccine as well as a revamped version specifically to combat the new Covid-19 variant to better understand the immune response.

REUTERS | MEDICAL NEWS TODAY

– .