New study shows Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine ‘works against rapid spread mutant strains’

In the new study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, pharmaceutical giant and researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch carried out lab tests on the strains, one of which was found in the UK while the other originated in South Africa.

The variants contain mutations including N501Y, an alteration in the spike protein of the virus, which is a target for vaccines.

Blood samples were taken from 20 people who received the Pfizer vaccine and laboratory studies found that the samples had neutralising levels of antibodies which appeared to work against the new strains.

The third lockdown in England is in response to the rapid spread of the mutant strain first found in the South East.

Pfizer has now tested 16 different mutations in the strains and none of them have had any significant impact on how the vaccine works.

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