Scientists from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev found that the efficacy of Pfizer's vaccine against the corona virus decreases in the case of the South African strain. However, the vaccine highly effectively neutralizes infection by the original virus, or its British version. The study was published in the prestigious journalCell Host Microbe .
Scientists at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev tested the effectiveness of Pfizer's vaccine against the original corona virus and against the British and South African strains. Also, additional strains were tested that carry different combinations of mutations that appear in the virus's envelope protein. The research findings indicate that the vaccine is effective against the original corona virus and against the strain carrying the British mutation, but provides less protection against the South African version of the virus, and against versions that combine the British and South African mutations.
The data was collected from people who have recovered from COVID19, and others who were vaccinated with the first or second dose of the Pfizer vaccine. The blood samples were taken 21 days after the administration of the first dose of the vaccine, or about ten days after the second dose.
"Our findings show that the effectiveness of the vaccine against the South African strain is less, although still present," says the lead researcher. Prof. Ran Taube From the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Genetics named after Shraga Segal at the Faculty of Health Sciences at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
Prof. Taube and his team also tested the level of neutralizing antibodies in the blood of corona recoveries, compared to blood taken from vaccinated individuals, and compared the ability of these antibodies to protect against infection with the wild strain. The findings indicate that the vaccine provides levels of protection 11 times higher than the levels of protection observed in patients who recovered and were not vaccinated. Also, relative to those who recovered, the first vaccine dose increased the level of protection against infection with the wild strain 6-fold, and the second vaccine dose resulted in a further 2-fold increase in the ability to neutralize the virus. Along with these encouraging results, the effectiveness of the vaccine against the South African strain is 7 times lower compared to the neutralization of the original strain or the British strain.
The research team included Dr. Alona Kuzmina From the laboratory of Prof. Taube and other partners from the Soroka University Medical Center - Yara Halyaila, Olga Voloshin, Dr. Ayelet Keren-Naos, Dr. Liora Bohm, Dr. Yael Raviv, Prof. Yonat Shemer-Avni and Dr. Eli Rosenberg.
This research was supported by grants from the Israel Ministry of Science and Technology, the National Science Foundation and the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev's Corona Virus Research Task Force.
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