Pfizer jab ‘ will protect against faster spreading mutant variants’
A MUTATION in two faster-spreading coronavirus variants should not threaten the efficacy of the Pfizer/ BioNTech vaccine, scientists said yesterday.
New strains identified in the UK and South Africa carry mutations that can change the shape of the virus, sparking fears they could evade immunity generated by current jabs.
Both contain a mutation called N501Y, which alters the spike protein targeted by most immunisations.
Researchers from Pfizer and the University of Texas took blood samples from 20 people who received the shot.
Reassuring
Lab tests showed their antibodies could neutralise strains with the N501Y mutation.
But experts have warned that other mutations could still cause problems later.
Phil Dormitzer, one of Pfizer’s top viral vaccine scientists, said: “We’ve now tested 16 different mutations, and none of them have really had any significant impact.
“That’s good but that doesn’t mean that the 17th won’t.”
Mr Dormitzer noted that another mutation found in the South African variant, called E484K, was also concerning. It has not yet been tested.
The widely held view is that inoculations will still work against variants, but their effectiveness may be reduced if significant changes occur.
Professor Deborah Dunn-Walters, of the British Society for Immunology, said a person’s immune response should be diverse enough to cope with some changes to the virus’s structure.
She said: “It is reassuring that Pfizer is closely monitoring whether variants of the SARSCoV- 2 virus can escape the immune responses elicited by their Covid- 19 vaccine, and that so far there is no evidence the mutations tested made any difference to antibody ability.
“Of course this needs constant monitoring, and the South African variant has a mutation of concern. But even if we did see any differences, the technology used to make the vaccines means they can be changed quite quickly if necessary.”
Stephen Evans, professor of pharmacoepidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: “This is good news, but it does not yet give us total confidence that the Pfizer or other vaccines will definitely give protection.”
The positive results came as a third coronavirus inoculation was approved for use in the UK. Britain has ordered 17 million doses of the vaccine made by US firm Moderna, which is 94 per cent effective at preventing the disease.
However, deliveries will not begin until the spring, once the company has boosted its manufacturing capability.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “This is fantastic news and another weapon in our arsenal to tame this awful disease.
“Through our vaccine delivery plan we have already vaccinated nearly 1.5 million people across the UK.
“The Moderna vaccine will boost our vaccination programme even further once doses become available from the spring.
“While we immunise those most at risk from Covid, I urge everyone to continue following the rules to keep cases low to protect our loved ones.”
Dr June Raine, chief executive of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency ( MHRA), said the approval followed a robust and thorough assessment of data from trials.
She said: “Once in use, all Covid- 19 vaccines are continually monitored by the MHRA.”
Around one in 50 Britons have now been immunised with either the Pfizer or the Oxford/ AstraZeneca jabs.
The total of
1.47 million doses completed by Thursday included 1.26 million in England, 113,000 in Scotland, 49,000 in Wales and 46,000 in Northern Ireland.
By the end of the week more than 1,000 GP- led centres, 223 hospital sites, seven mass jab centres and 200 community pharmacies were due to have joined the programme.
Dr Michael Head, senior research fellow in global health at the University of Southampton, said the addition of a third inoculation would boost delivery.
He said: “This is excellent news and a further crumb of comfort amid the huge levels of Covid- 19 circulating around the UK. When these Moderna vaccines arrive, they will help to ease any bottlenecks or delays in the administration programme.”
Selfless
Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England Professor Jonathan Van- Tam said the shot was “another testament to the hard work of researchers and selfless clinical trial volunteers”.
He added: “It will save lives once doses become available.
“But it is crucial we all continue to follow the rules to protect each other until enough people have been protected.” Britain’s vaccine roll out may finally be starting to gather steam as pictures emerged yesterday of dozens of elderly people queuing to get jabs.
The pensioners were snapped standing in line outside a vaccination centre in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire.
Kate Bingham, former head of the UK Vaccine Taskforce, said she was “reasonably confident” the Prime Minister’s target of vaccinating the four highest priority groups by next month would be met.
But she criticised “distrust” in the media with the Government’s proposals. Speaking to BBC Radio 4 she said: “I’m reasonably confident that these goals will be met and possibly exceeded because of the planning and the teams in place to do it.”
But on the criticism about the pace of the rollout she said the “constant media attacks are very difficult”.
Ms Bingham said it was tricky to say how many jabs were available in the UK.
And she added: “You’re compressing manufacturing processes that would normally take years to scale up.
“And you’re trying to do that in months so that you have consistent batches.”