Oxford Covid vaccine has 10% efficacy against South African variant, study suggests

[My Pet Orangutan]

Source: The Guardian.

The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine offers as little as 10% protection against the Covid variant first seen in South Africa, researchers have suggested.

Scientists who conducted a small-scale trial of the vaccine’s efficacy said it showed very little protection against mild to moderate infection, though they expressed hope that – in theory – it would still offer significant protection against more serious infection.

South Africa has halted the rollout of the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab, while a UK health minister indicated that an annual Covid jab could become the norm for many people as scientists work to stay a step ahead of the virus’s mutations.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/08/oxford-covid-vaccine-10-effective-south-african-variant-study

[Brown Feather]

1. At the rate this virus mutates

How effective will vaccination actually be? Will we have to line up monthly to get a new shot? Another question is can vaccine maker's even keep up developing new vaccines every couple of months?

[LymphocyteLover]

3. the vaccine is designed to make antibodies to the viral receptor

there's only so much that receptor can mutate and still infect properly, but the vaccine may need to be modified a bit as we go along

[bullimiami]

5. i would think zero. like dogs and zebras having cross mutations.

[LymphocyteLover]

7. yes, agree

[The Mouth]

10. Going forward I would expect that the vaccine

will be added to the yearly flu shot.

[mucifer]

2. Pfizer's vaccine is effective a bit less and they aren't able to say exactly how effective

Pfizer's vaccine will work against the South African coronavirus variant — although its mutations could still mean thousands of injected people are vulnerable, a study has suggested.

Researchers at New York University tested how well the variant of the virus could be destroyed by the blood of 10 people who had received Pfizer's jab.

They found the immune antibodies made by the vaccine were still able to neutralise – destroy – the coronavirus, but the body didn't make as many of them.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9236097/Pfizers-Covid-vaccine-work-against-South-African-variant-study-says.html

[Initech]

8. Found this on Web MD:

Pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Novavax say their coronavirus vaccines work better against the coronavirus variant first found in the United Kingdom than the variant that apparently originated in South Africa.

Meanwhile, Novavax, whose vaccine is still in development, said it will start work on a new vaccine to target the South African variant. Pfizer, whose vaccine has been in wide circulation since December, said it doesn’t think a new vaccine is necessary at this time.

The companies announced their testing results as the United States’ first two cases of the South African variant were detected this week in South Carolina. The U.K. variant has been found in at least 26 states. Both variants appear to be more contagious than the original novel coronavirus.

A Pfizer news release said laboratory studies show its vaccine “elicits antibodies that neutralize SARS-CoV-2 with key mutations present in U.K. and South African variants.”

The vaccine was “slightly” less effective against the South African variant, the news release said, but Pfizer and its European partner BioNTech “believe the small differences in viral neutralization observed in these studies are unlikely to lead to a significant reduction in the effectiveness of the vaccine.”

Pfizer said it doesn’t think a new kind of vaccine is necessary to battle the variants, but if there’s evidence the variants are resistant to the vaccine, it will do so.
https://www.webmd.com/vaccines/covid-19-vaccine/news/20210131/vaccine-not-as-effective-against-south-african-variant

So they'll work and be adjusted as needed to combat new variants. It looks like we'll need booster shots every year.

[Talitha]

6. Still in all, any vaccine is better than no vaccine.

(Leaving the house in about 1/2 hour to get my 1st shot.)

[Zipgun]

9. I think the article is wrong. There is a decrease of effectiveness, but not down to 10%. Here is a

video that addresses it to some extent. He had a video that went in to several vaccines and their response to current variants a couple days ago. All helped, but none were as effective.