The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine appears to have a high degree of efficacy against the more transmissible variants of the coronavirus first identified in the United Kingdom and Brazil.
The study in question could ease fears that the new strains of the virus would result in another surge in the United States.
In the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers from Pfizer-BioNTech and the University of Texas reported that the Pfizer vaccine was as effective against the U.K. and Brazil variants as it was against the original virus. The Pfizer vaccine is about 95% effective against the original virus. The study has not yet been peer-reviewed or published.
The study also found that the vaccine’s neutralization of the South Africa variant “was robust but lower” than against the other variants.
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It is welcome news for the U.S., where the U.K. variant appears to be spreading. The steep drop in COVID-19 cases that began in early January has slowed in the last two weeks, according to data collected by the New York Times. One of the main fears has been that the vaccines would not be as effective against the variants.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have confirmed 3,037 cases of the U.K. in 49 states. Since the genetic sequencing needed to detect variants is not in widespread use in the U.S., the number of cases is almost surely much higher. Indeed, the CDC projects that the U.K. variant will become the dominant strain in the U.S. in March. Research suggests that the U.K. variant is 35%-70% more transmissible than the original virus.
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Research from Imperial College London suggests that the Brazil variant is 1.4 to 2.2 times more transmissible than other variants. It also found that the variant reinfected 25% to 61% of people who had been previously infected with another strain. However, the Brazil variant does not appear to be as widespread in the U.S. as the U.K. strain.
