Scientists warn that the COVID vaccine “may not work” with South African strains

Johannesburg, South Africa –New coronavirus Subspecies identified in South Africa Brings even more risk than A strain discovered in the United Kingdom a few weeks ago, The UK’s Supreme Health Authority warned on Monday. His warning comes when scientists warn that a new strain that is sweeping the coastal areas of South Africa may be resistant to the COVID-19 vaccine that has been or is awaiting approval in the United States and Europe. I did.

“I’m very worried about the South African variety,” Health Minister Matt Hancock told the BBC Radio. “This is a very important issue … even more so than the new variants in the UK.”

Oxford University-The first dose of AstraZeneca vaccine other than medical trials Administered at Oxford Hospital on MondayProfessor John Bell, a senior immunologist at Oxford who helped create vaccines for leading universities, said there was a “big question mark” as to whether the current version of the vaccine would work in South African variants.

He said mutations are “unlikely” to invalidate the vaccine, but they provide as much protection as they do against others that are already widely distributed elsewhere. He said fine-tuning may be needed to provide.

Professor Shabir Maddy, lead researcher in the Oxford vaccine trial in South Africa, told CBS News on Monday that more than 13 variants of the coronavirus have been identified in the country since the start of the pandemic. He said 501.V2, a wildfire-spreading new thing in South Africa’s coastal cities, is the most worrisome mutation of the virus so far.

“It’s not surprising that the vaccine doesn’t work with this mutant, but it’s a consideration that the vaccine may not be fully effective,” he said.

Timely exam

Oxford and US pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson have conducted human trials of the vaccine in South Africa. For this, doses have been discovered since the new variant began to spread.

“People who participated in our trial received a second dose during the period of this new mutant, which is very fortunate,” said Maddy, by the fourth week of January. He added that he was expecting relevant test results.

Glenda Gray, chairman of the South African Medical Research Council and leader of the Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Trial Team, said their trials also included giving participants doses during the outbreak of new strains. confirmed.

“At this point, we’re lucky to see if there are any changes in this new mutant,” she said. Her team is also looking forward to results “towards the end of this month.”

“This new variant should not delay access to the vaccine, but it also means that we need to pay attention to breakthrough infections,” she said. Said referring to the rate.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine requires a single dose, unlike the Oxford and Pfizer vaccines approved for use in the United Kingdom and the Moderna vaccine used in the United States with Pfizer injections. I will.

The Oxford vaccine was tested in seven different locations in South Africa with 2,100 volunteers, with approximately 45,000 participants in the Johnson and Johnson trials.

So far, immunologists have said that approved or pending vaccine efficacy against other mutations in the coronavirus, including a variant discovered late last year in the London region, which has significantly increased infection rates in the United Kingdom. Has expressed little concern about.

Government scientists say that new British strains, like South African variants, appear to be more easily inherited among people, but they respond to the vaccine as it does with a wider version of the disease. He says he expects to do it.

South Africans were waiting

South Africans, meanwhile, are still waiting to know when vaccines will actually be available in their country outside of trials.

The country’s largest trade union has accused the government of being “gravely incompetent” in its vaccine deployment program.A group of prominent scientists, including Glenda Gray, blamed the government Editorial published on Sunday What they said was a “amazing” lack of planning.

Within hours of the criticism, Health Minister Dr. Zwelli Mukize gave an online presentation outlining the government’s plans. He said the goal was to vaccinate two-thirds of South Africa’s 57 million people by the end of the year, beginning in February.

“We are targeting at least 67% of the population to achieve herd immunity,” he said.

The South African Ministry of Health has reported a total of 1.1 million cumulative COVID-19 cases nationwide, with a positive rate of about 32% and confirmed deaths of about 30,000. This is the worst national coronavirus epidemic in Africa.