The B.1.1.529 variant of Covid-19, which caused a shock wave on the stock market, will it be resistant to existing vaccines? This is a question of great importance, to which the German laboratory BioNTech, allied with Pfizer, hopes to provide an answer quickly. It expects “at the latest in two weeks” of first results of studies which will make it possible to determine if the new variant detected in South Africa is able to escape the vaccine protection, indicated a spokeswoman.
“We immediately launched studies on the B.1.1.529 variant” which “clearly differs from the already known variants because it has additional mutations on the spike protein”, characteristic of the SARS-Cov-2 virus, explained the carrier. word to AFP. “Pfizer and BioNTech prepared several months ago to adjust their vaccine in less than six weeks and deliver the first doses in 100 days” if a variant was found to be resistant.
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South Africa sees signs of a new wave of pandemic, scientists said Thursday. “The metamorphoses of the initial virus can potentially make it more transmissible to the point of making it dominant. At this point, South African scientists are not certain of the effectiveness of existing anti-Covid vaccines against the new form of the virus,” underlines Saxo Bank.
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