Scientists Worry COVID-19 Vaccines May Not Work against South African Variant
Three vaccines with emergency use authorization and two COVID-19 variants are facing off in the first quarter of 2021
Between the UK and South African variants, experts are worried if the vaccines will work against the latter
The data from genomic sequencing suggests mutations in the South African variant may resist vaccines
Lawrence Young, a virologist at Warwick University, said: "The accumulation of more spike mutations in the South African variant are more of a concern and could lead to some escape from immune protection"
Scientists across the globe, including BioNTech's Ugur Sahin and Oxford University's John Bell, are testing if COVID-19 vaccines can overcome the mutations
The testing will show them too what needs to be done in case the vaccines are less effective
Doing so may allow them to change parts of the vaccines in just weeks, instead of starting from scratch
But why experts are more worried about the South African variant than the UK strain?
According to the US CDC, the South African B.1.351 variant emerged independently of the UK strain B.1.1.7
Both exhibited high transmissibility rates in reported cases
However, B.1.351 has a few more surprises
Simon Clarke at the University of Reading confirmed that the South African variant has extra mutations, compared to the UK variant
The excess alterations are linked to the spike protein of the coronavirus
Not only do the mutations increase the chance of infecting human cells, but also raise the ability to dodge the immune system
Because the vaccines elicit an antibody response, any changes in the antigen may impair antibodies
If the coronavirus has several mutations in its antigen, antibodies from vaccines may not bind correctly, resulting in reduced effectiveness
Public Health England said there's no evidence yet to support that COVID-19 vaccines wouldn't work against the variants, Reuters reported
Aside from high transmissibility rates, both variants are correlated to higher viral loads
When a person contracts either strain, their body would likely have a greater concentration of virus particles, which means, better odds of transmitting the variant to others
So, scientists are investigating two things
Will the vaccines work on the UK variant?
If yes, will these vaccines protect people from the South African variant?
Globally, 60 vaccines are in clinical trials, including the ones from Pfizer/BioNTech, AstraZeneca/Oxford, Moderna, Gamaleya Institute, and Sinopharm