Pfizer is investigating the effect of its vaccine against a new variant – SME.sk

FRANKFURT. The German pharmaceutical company BioNTech is researching how vaccine against the disease COVID-19, which it developed in collaboration with Pfizer, protects against the new variant B.1.1.529 found in South Africa.

“We expect more laboratory test data within two weeks at the latest. This data will provide more information on whether B.1.1.529 may be a variant that will require modification of our vaccine if it is spread globally,” a BioNTech spokesman said.

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Kirill Dmitrijev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RFPI), which is responsible for marketing and selling the Sputnik V anti-drug vaccine abroad, also informed about the rapid possibility of adapting the Sputnik V vaccine to a new variant of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.

“We can adapt the vaccine quickly to the new coronavirus variant if necessary,” Dmitrijev told RT television.

The World Health Organization (WHO) advisers are holding a special meeting on Friday to summarize information about the new coronavirus variant and decide whether the WHO will monitor it as an “interest” or “concern” option.

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Option B.1.1.529 has already affected the situation on the stock markets and led the European Union to recommend suspending flights to South Africa.

Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s technical director for COVID-19, admitted in an interview on social media on Thursday that she “doesn’t know much about the new variant”.

She clarified that this variant has a large number of mutations, which raises concerns about their effect on the properties of the virus. So far, they have identified less than 100 complete genomic sequences for the variant, she said.

She said it would “take several weeks for us to understand the impact of this option on any potential vaccines, for example.”

She added that the effect of the new variant on COVID-19 vaccines could be known in a few weeks.

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