Pfizer Covid vaccine effective against new mutant strain from UK

A doctor injects the Pfizer vaccine into a patient in London (Picture: Jed Leicester/REX)

Pfizer’s Covid vaccine is likely to protect against the mutant strain of coronavirus sweeping the UK, latest lab tests have revealed. The encouraging results, using blood of participants in trials, are based on more extensive analysis than those released by the pharmaceutical giant last week. Last week, Pfizer said a similar laboratory study showed the vaccine was effective against one key mutation, called N501Y, found in both of the highly transmissible variants spreading in the UK and South Africa. The latest study, which has not yet been peer reviewed, was conducted on 10 mutations, which are characteristic of the variant known as B117 identified in Britain.

The encouraging lab results have just been released by Pfizer (Picture: EPA)

It provides further hope as the country reports record numbers of daily Covid deaths, which are believed to be driven by the more transmissible variant. It also means vaccine development would for now not have to start all over again. But it comes after Israel – which is carrying out the world’s fastest vaccination drive – claimed that efficacy from the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine may be as low as 3%.

Responding to Israel’s claims, the Government’s chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said studies showed that from day 10 after vaccination to 21 days and beyond, it was ‘much more like 89%’. Though he admitted ‘when you get into real-world practice things are seldom quite as good as clinical trials’. He added: ‘It probably won’t be as high as that in practice, but I don’t think it’ll be as low as the figures you’ve just given

 

 

source:metro.co.uk/2021/01/20/