Daily Mail: South Africa strain makes vaccines 30% less effective

Scientific advisors to the British government have warned that the South African strain of the Corona virus may make vaccines less effective by 30%, and the analysis by the British Emergency Scientific Advisory Group SAGE found that the strain can cause up to a 10-fold decrease in the effectiveness of antibodies in people who have been Vaccinate them or previously infected people.

According to the British newspaper "Daily Mail" that while antibodies are not the only part of the immune response against the Corona virus, white blood cells also help, as they play an important role in fighting infection, and SAGE said that the decrease in antibodies "translates into a potential decrease of 30%. In the effectiveness of the vaccine. "

The committee found that the variant was capable of infecting South African patients who survived older strains, and the data indicated that some patients who had been vaccinated would still have it, but the expert group stressed that it remains unclear "what the implications for protection against severe disease will be." ".

The overseas emergence and rise of the similar South African and Brazilian breed has made this year's summer vacation increasingly unlikely.

The South African strain known officially as B.1.351 has three major mutations in the spike protein that helps it "hide" from the immune system, known as E484K, N501Y and K417N.

Corona uses the spike protein to adhere to human cells, and vaccines are designed to train people's bodies to recognize this protein.

SAGE said the Brazilian variant P.1 was less worrisome, as it has fewer worrisome mutations, but it may still be somewhat vaccine-resistant.

The analysis presented to the group looked at studies in South Africa that found that people with old strains of Corona were as likely to contract the new variant as patients who had never had any infections.

She said that this is evidence that `` the previous infection with the first strain of Corona for the year 2020, did not reduce the risk of developing the subsequent Covid 19 disease, probably due to the variant B.1.351. ''

SAGE said real-world data on the strain's effect on current vaccines has been scarce, with only one randomized clinical trial conducted by AstraZeneca directly measuring its effect.

That small study, conducted on adults under the age of 65, showed that the vaccine was only 10% effective in stopping severe disease, but this was widely criticized at the time because it only looked at a small number of young adults who had the potential. Too low for serious illness.