Pfizer and BioNTech has said that its Coronavirus vaccines are effective against the variants that have emerged in the United Kingdom and South Africa.
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In a statement released on Thursday January 28, the two firms said the \”small differences\” detected in tests comparing the original virus and the recent versions \”are unlikely to lead to a significant reduction in the effectiveness of the vaccine\”.Â
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AFP reported that while Moderna\’s Coronavirus vaccine also appears to work against the new and more infectious variants of COVID-19 found in the UK and South Africa, early laboratory tests suggested antibodies triggered by the COVID-19 vaccine can recognise and fight the new variants.
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More studies are however needed to confirm this is true for people who have been vaccinated.
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Pfizer and BioNTech also said they would respond if there was evidence that the variants could defeat their current vaccine. The statement added;Â
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“Pfizer and BioNTech believe that the flexibility of BioNTech’s proprietary mRNA vaccine platform is well suited to develop new vaccine variants if required.\”