An omicron virus variant evades immunity to a Pfizer vaccine: study

The Omicron variant of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus could be a better antibody than Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, according to a recently released small study led by South African researchers.

Plasma samples from 12 people who received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine were tested as part of a rapid response to the variant, which recently emerged in Africa and led to travel bans worldwide.

consequences? 41-fold decrease in antibodies.

The study notes that the variant “evades the antibody immunity induced by the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine,” according to the African Health Research Institute.

Several of the study’s scientists, based in Durban, collaborated on the study with other researchers in Africa.

The researchers found evidence that those who were vaccinated and recovered from COVID-19 saw a small decrease in protection.

“Previous infection + vaccination is still neutralizing,” Alex Segal, one of the researchers, wrote on Twitter.

It was not clear why non-immune subjects with normal immunity would not participate in the study, and Segal and the other researchers did not respond to requests for comment.

The research (PDF) was funded by Bill and Melinda Gates, the National Institutes of Health and the South African Council for Medical Research. It has not been peer-reviewed or even uploaded to the medRxiv prepress server.

But scientists around the world immediately began sharing the findings, as South African scientists first identified Omicron and there is little data on its effect on vaccines.

Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust, called the work “extremely important” and found the results “realistic”. Florian Kramer, a professor of microbiology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, said the study showed a “significant decrease” in protection. Doctor. Ashish Jha, dean of Brown University’s School of Public Health, said the decrease was “not remarkable” but “not shocking” and that the study provided more evidence of the need for booster doses.

Others have tried to stress that antibodies are not the only form of protection that vaccination confers.

“While antibodies (our main line of defense against upper respiratory symptoms, such as mild pimples) may decline over time or be affected by mutations along the spike protein, vaccine T cells still act against omicron cells and B cells (caused by vaccines) to modify it.” The new antibodies they produce to work against variants,” Dr. Monica Gandhi, MD, professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, emailed The Epoch Times, citing several studies and news reports.

Pfizer and BioNTech did not respond to requests for comment.

Doctor. BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin told NBC after the new study was released that the company is expecting its own results from tests against Omicron this week. He described himself as an “optimist”.

A previous study from South Africa suggested that people with natural immunity may have less protection against Omicron. Meanwhile, the United States Emergency Department said, that the same type can provide natural immunity without causing serious illness, noting that many cases so far have not shown symptoms or have had few symptoms.

Dr. said. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told reporters during a virtual briefing on Tuesday.

Fauci said US researchers are expecting test results for both the live virus and the pseudovirus next week. Other researchers are studying Omicron in animals and against antivirals.

continued

Zachary Stiber covers US news and stories related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lives in Maryland.