Covid variant from South Africa was able to evade Pfizer vaccine in Israeli study

Covid variant from South Africa was able to ‘break through’ Pfizer vaccine in Israeli study The coronavirus variant first discovered in South Africa is able to evade some of the protection of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, according to an Israeli study. Berkeley Lovelace Jr. CNBC

The coronavirus variant first discovered in South Africa is able to evade some of the protection of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, according to a new Israeli study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed.

Researchers at Tel Aviv University and Clalit, the largest health-care organization in Israel, examined nearly 400 people who had tested positive for Covid-19 after receiving at least one dose of the vaccine. They compared them to the same number of people who were infected and unvaccinated.

The researchers found the prevalence of the variant from South Africa, known as B.1.351, among patients who received two doses of the vaccine was about eight times higher than those who were unvaccinated. The data, published online over the weekend, suggest the B.1.351 is better able to “break through” the protection of the vaccine than the original strain, the researchers wrote in the study.

“Based on patterns in the general population, we would have expected just one case of the South African variant, but we saw eight,” Professor Adi Stern, who headed the research, told The Times of Israel. “We can say it’s less effective, but more research is needed to establish exactly how much.” ...he new data comes as public health officials grow concerned that highly contagious variants, which studies have shown can reduce the effectiveness of vaccines, could stall the world’s progress on the pandemic. ...

The researchers noted the main caveat of the study was the sample size. B.1.351 only made up about 1% of all Covid-19 cases, they said. B.1.1.7, the variant first identified in the U.K., is more prevalent.

As variants spread, drugmakers said they are testing whether a third dose would offer more protection....