TheSouth African variant , of SARS - CoV-2 , the virus responsible for COVID-19 , may be better at evading the resistant reaction create by the Pfizer - BioNTech vaccine , according to a yet - to - be match - reviewed " real - earth " study in Israel .
The work , available to learn as apreprint , is presently under revaluation and was conducted by Tel Aviv University and Clalit Health Services , Israel ’s largest healthcare provider . Israel is well - place to carry out a real - reality study on COVID-19 vaccine because over half the population have been vaccinated with both DoS , including80 per centum of adults , with most having the Pfizer / BioNTech jab .
The study compared 400 unvaccinated people with 400 either part or full immunised . Among the fully vaccinate ( 150 people ) , the team found 8 case where the patient developed COVID-19 due to the South African variant of the computer virus .
According to the subject field , the South African variant calculate for less than 1 pct of COVID cases in Israel . However , the incidence of this variant is about eight times higher than in those unvaccinated , indicating that this adaptation of the virus ca n’t be counter as effectively by the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccinum equate to other nisus , including the UK variant , which is now the most prevalent version in Israel .
“ We found a disproportionately higher rate of the South African strain among hoi polloi vaccinated with a second dose , compare to the unvaccinated group . This stand for that the South African variance is able-bodied , to some extent , to bankrupt through the vaccine ’s protective cover , ” Tel Aviv University ’s Adi Stern toldReuters .
This is the first real - world study on whether the South African variant can go around the vaccinum , but the pharmaceutical caller behind the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines reported a reduction in the virus - neutralizing potential of the vaccine - induced antibodies against this variant in February , publish inThe New England Journal of Medicine .
The good news show is that it does n’t reject the potential completely , so it ’s potential severe cases of COVID-19 are still curbed by the vaccine even in the case of the South African variant .
While the results may look concerning , the researchers cautioned that their sample size was small as the var. is not common in Israel , perhaps being " blocked " by the UK variant . Their subject field also was n’t design to look at overall vaccinum effectivity against any variant , as it only looked at people who had already examine overconfident for COVID-19 , and the vaccine is stillhighly efficient .
[ H / T : AFP via MedicalXpress ]
