A new study conducted by a team of researchers from Israel has found that Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is not effective against the South African variant of coronavirus. During the study, researchers used data from Israel's largest health provider and studied 400 fully vaccinated individuals who had contracted the virus against 400 members of the unvaccinated infected population.
Pfizer vaccine ineffective against South African variant
Researchers found that the South African variant B.1.351 is eight times more likely to cause infection in the vaccinated group when compared to the unvaccinated group.
"We found a disproportionately higher rate of the South African variant among people vaccinated with a second dose. This means that the South African variant is able, to some extent, to break through the vaccine's protection," Tel Aviv University researcher Adi Stern told Reuters.
However, researchers admitted that the study was carried out with relatively small sample size, and they added that more studies should be carried out before making the final conclusion.
Vaccine makers tweaking their formula
In the meantime, vaccine makers are apparently tweaking their vaccine formula to attack mutant variants of Covid-19. An Associated Press report recently suggested that some Americans have already received a third shot, one aimed specifically at variants.
According to the latest updates, 119 million Americans have already received at least one dose of the vaccine, while 22 percent of the United State citizens are already completely vaccinated.
As vaccination rollout is progressing steadily in various nooks of the globe, countries like India are now fighting the second wave of coronavirus. After showing signs of flattening the coronavirus curve in February, positive cases and deaths drastically started increasing in India post-March. On April 11, the country recorded more than 1,69,000 coronavirus positive cases, an all-time high since the October peak. As coronavirus has emerged as a perfect storm in India, several states in the country are apparently planning to implement a second lockdown to curb the spread of the pandemic.
In the meantime, top sources in the Union Health Ministry have revealed that coronavirus double mutations have been detected in patients from 10 Indian states. A recent NDTV report suggests that this double mutation could be one of the reasons behind the rising number of cases in India. According to the latest updates, top medical experts in the country are now analyzing the impact of the double mutant variant in Covid deaths, its severity, and its effects on vaccination.
