Although the Indian variant of the coronavirus with the abbreviation B.1.617 is still rarely found in Austria, the fear of the mutation is also increasing. This is because the Indian mutation is spreading rapidly. But how well do the available vaccines from Pfizer/Biontech and Moderna protect against it?
People who have received a Biontech/Pfizer or Moderna vaccine may be able to rejoice: the two preparations probably provide good protection against two variants from India. This is the result of preliminary data from the USA.
A U.S. study has now investigated whether the Corona vaccines from Pfizer/Biontech and Moderna are also effective against the Indian variant of the virus.
“We found that the vaccine antibodies were a little weaker against the variants, but not so much that we think it would have a big impact on the vaccines’ ability to protect,” said Nathaniel Landau, one of the study’s authors.
However, the study from NYU Grossman School of Medicine and NYU Langone Center has not yet been independently peer-reviewed by multiple subject matter experts. Without an appropriate peer-review process to ensure scientific quality, the study’s accuracy has yet to be determined. Its informative value is therefore limited.
Scientists believe “vaccines will be highly protective”
For their study, the scientists took blood samples from people who had already been fully vaccinated. They exposed these to artificially produced pseudovirus particles under laboratory conditions. According to Landau, the researchers found that the number of antibodies was lower in the Indian variants. “But there were enough that worked, so we believe the vaccines will be highly protective.”
In addition, vaccine manufacturers are working hard to develop the next generation of vaccines to protect humanity against (further) mutations.
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