AstraZeneca, Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines effective against variants, Oxford University study shows Brazil variant appears similar to UK variant in regards to impact on vaccine efficacy, the team said Again, excellent news but also not without caveat. Pfizer Coronavirus Vaccine 'effective' Against Brazil's Variant, Says Study Efficacy of the Pfizer COVID-19 jab in neutralising the highly contagious P.1 Brazilian variant was similar to vaccine’s immunity mechanism on SARS-CoV-2. The contents of this site are ©2021 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc. NYT columnist Ben Smith discusses Chinese state media, This company is solving America's food issues one backyard at a time, Intercept bureau chief: Manchin-backed bill doesn't address voter suppression, Starbucks, Chase and a small pizzeria form a unique business triangle in Washington, DC. A new study has found spacing out doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is a lot riskier against variants running rampant than administering both jabs quicker. For nearly two decades, I was a professor at Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health where I founded two academic research departments, the Division of Biochemical Pharmacology and the Division of Human Retrovirology. A second study — using national surveillance data from Israel during the first four months of its campaign which began just as the country reached the peak of its second big wave — echoed the positive findings from Qatar. The B.1.1.7 variant is by far the dominant strain across Israel, accounting for nearly 95% of all cases. The lab-based study was carried out by the NYU … Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. While the full data has yet to be released, Moderna’s press release shows a single dose booster shot given to someone who has already received both doses of the vaccine raises the body’s neutralizing antibody titers against both the B.1.351 variant and the P.1 variant which was first identified in Brazil, the only two variants seemingly tested in the study. An Israeli study has indicated the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is less effective against the so-called South African variant of the virus. Two studies published Wednesday found that the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine was highly effective at preventing infection and severe cases of the virus caused by more infectious variants. Two weeks after the second dose, the Pfizer vaccine’s effectiveness against infection from the B.1.1.7 variant ranged from 87-89.5%. One study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine and based on data from more than 200,000 people in Qatar who had received the Pfizer-BioNTech shot, found there was an estimated 89.5 percent effectiveness against any infection with the B.117 variant first identified in the United Kingdom. Two weeks after the second dose, the Pfizer vaccine’s effectiveness against infection from the B.1.1.7 variant ranged from 87-89.5%. In many countries around the world, including here in the United States, widespread vaccine acceptance is not a given. There were 6689 breakthrough infections and 5 deaths reported among those who had received only one dose of the vaccine and only 1616 breakthrough infections and 2 deaths in those who received the full two. We haven’t won the game just yet, but as these studies show, the opposing team can definitely be beaten. Against the B.1.351 variant it ranged from 72.1-75%. The first set of data comes out of Qatar, which launched its mass immunization campaign with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in late December just as its second major wave of infection was beginning to rise. The study found that, despite the prevalence of the variants, the vaccine was still highly effective at preventing infection. I am perhaps most well known for my work on cancer, HIV/AIDS, genomics and, today, on COVID-19. And that is where the third study comes in, a Phase 2 study from Moderna on the effectiveness of its booster shot against variant strains of the virus. For the B.1.351 variant first identified in South Africa, the Qatar study recorded a 75 percent efficacy rate for the vaccine.Â, The effectiveness was even higher for preventing more severe illnesses from the variants, at 97.4 percent for both the B.117 and B.1.351 strains.Â, The second study, published in The Lancet, measured more than 230,000 COVID-19 infections in Israel from Jan. 24 to April 3.Â, Researchers at the Israeli Ministry of Health and Pfizer found that the two-dose shot was about 95 percent effective at preventing infection, hospitalization and death as a result of the more infectious variants in individuals 16 and older.Â, For people 85 and older, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine maintained a high efficacy rate of 94 percent in preventing infection and more severe cases.Â, The findings came the same day Moderna reported early positive results among booster shots undergoing trials being developed to protect against variants of COVID-19.Â. (Photo by KARIM JAAFAR / AFP) (Photo by KARIM JAAFAR/AFP via Getty Images), Future of Work | Presented by Microsoft Teams, The Next Step | Small Business Video Series. The study contains only seven weeks of follow up data following the second dose of the vaccine — the longest follow up data we have to date but still not long enough to determine whether protection against the variants lasts as long as protection lasted against the non-variant strain dominant in the clinical trials. Moderna and Pfizer vaccines showing promising results against COVID variants May 6, 2021 / 11:39 AM / CBS/AFP CDC projects decline in COVID-19 cases by July Each of my articles at Forbes.com will focus on a specific healthcare challenge and offer best practices and innovative solutions to overcome those challenges for the benefit of all. The Pfizer and Moderna COVID vaccines should remain highly effective against two coronavirus variants first identified in India, according to new research carried out by U.S. scientists.. For nearly two decades, I was a professor at Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health where I. I am a scientist, businessman, author, and philanthropist. I am chair and president of ACCESS Health International, a nonprofit organization I founded that fosters innovative solutions to the greatest health challenges of our day. This study also went a step further, analyzing vaccine uptake and its impact on the scope of the nationwide epidemic. All Rights Reserved. Two new studies have shown the real-world effectiveness of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine rollout against two deadly Covid variants, B.1.1.7 and B.1.351. The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 fax. Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine effective after 6 months; Moderna starts variant trial Pfizer reveals strong efficacy after six months with COVID-19 vaccine. What both the Israeli and Qatari studies do show us definitively is that high titers correlate to broad protection, which will be important for measuring new vaccines and the effectiveness of booster shots. But despite the positive momentum, it remains far too soon to call the game in our favor nor trust too much in vaccines alone to end the virus’ spread. Because of this, any discussion of reopening or resuming pre-pandemic activities must take other public health precautions like mask-wearing and social distancing into careful consideration. While Pfizer's vaccine appeared to protect against all of the new variants, the study found that it did so to varying degrees depending on variant type. It notes that as the percentage of vaccinated people in each age cohort grew, the number of coronavirus infections in that age group fell and that even in the face of the country’s phased reopening, reductions in new infections continued. What percentage efficacy means. The Pfizer and Moderna Covid vaccines should remain highly effective against two coronavirus variants first identified in India, according to … In this study, seven days or more after the second dose, the Pfizer vaccine proved 95.3% effective at preventing infection and 97.5% effective at preventing severe or critical Covid-19. Despite the positive notes that run throughout all these findings, it’s important to note that none of these studies give us any indication of how well our vaccines and potential boosters will perform against other variants, both the ones we know of today and the ones — perhaps even deadlier or more transmissible — that may emerge tomorrow. Greg Nash-Pool/Getty Images More On: One of the people behind the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine says he has yet to see any evidence that emerging variants of the disease have found a way to defeat it. In an evaluation at 24 hospitals in 14 states,* the effectiveness of partial or full vaccination † with Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines against COVID-19–associated hospitalization was assessed among adults aged ≥65 years. Pfizer has also been looking at the need for booster shots. Researchers hope the booster shots could give people who have already been vaccinated a greater immune response to variants. 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