The Pfizer and BioNTech laboratories assured that their vaccine serves to immunize humans against the new strains of coronavirus that were discovered in the United Kingdom and South Africa.
The companies conducted a study together with scientists from the University of Texas in which they found that the BNT162b2 vaccine is effective in neutralizing the N501Y mutation, which in recent weeks has put the world on alert due to its high transmissibility.
“We’ve now tested 16 different mutations, none of which had really significant effects. That’s the good news,” said Pfizer’s Chief Scientist for Viral Vaccines Development Phil Dormitzer.
The specialist stressed that “it is encouraging that the vaccine appears effective against the mutation, as well as 15 other variants that the company has previously tested.”
The scientific study was carried out based on blood taken from people who had received the BNT162b2 vaccine.
The new strains of the virus that causes COVID-19, mainly those discovered in British and South African territory, have greater transmissibility, which generated a significant increase in the number of positive cases of coronavirus in several countries.
These increases forced several governments to adopt strong restriction measures to contain infections and avoid collapses in health systems, which with the closures and confinements will generate new problems for the world economy.
So far, the coronavirus pandemic has registered 88,110,890 positive cases and caused 1,899,647 deaths around the planet since the beginning of last year when the first cases were made official in China.
