South African COVID variant may reduce vaccine protection: Pfizer

Researchers find South African COVID variant could reduce Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine antibody protection by two-thirds.

A laboratory study suggests that the South African variant of the coronavirus may reduce antibody protection offered by the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine by two-thirds, and it is not clear if the shot will be effective against the mutation, the companies said. The study found the vaccine was still able to neutralise the virus and there is not yet evidence from human trials that the variant reduces vaccine protection, the companies said on Wednesday. Still, they are making investments and talking to regulators about developing an updated version of their mRNA vaccine or a booster shot, if needed.