It also shows that levels of these antibodies that are able to recognise and fight the virus are lower with increasing age, and that levels decline over time
Tunisians working in the tourism industry receive a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine on Friday in Tunis. Pic/AFP
People fully vaccinated by the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine are likely to have more than five times lower levels of neutralising antibodies against the Delta variant first identified in India compared to the original strain, according to research published in The Lancet journal.
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The study also shows that levels of these antibodies that are able to recognise and fight the virus are lower with increasing age, and that levels decline over time, providing additional evidence in support of plans to deliver a booster dose to vulnerable people.
It supports current plans in the UK to reduce the dose gap between vaccines since they found that after just one dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, people are less likely to develop antibody levels against the B.1.617.2 variant as high as those seen against the previously dominant B.1.1.7 (Alpha) variant, first found in Kent.
The team, led by researchers from the Francis Crick Institute UK, noted that levels of antibodies alone do not predict vaccine effectiveness and prospective population studies are also needed. Lower neutralising antibody levels may still be associated with protection against Covid-19, they said.
Also Read: UK approves Pfizer/ BioNTech Covid-19 shot for 12 to 15-year-olds
The study analysed antibodies in the blood of 250 healthy people who received either one or two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine, up to three months after their first dose.
The researchers tested the ability of antibodies to block entry of the virus into cells, so called ‘neutralising antibodies’, against five different variants of SARS-CoV-2. They found in people who had two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, levels of neutralising antibodies were more than five times lower against the B.1.617.2 variant when compared to the original strain, upon which current vaccines are based. This antibody response was even lower in people who only received one dose, they said.
‘Release medical records of Wuhan lab workers’
Top US infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci has asked China to release the medical records of nine people whose ailments might provide vital clues into whether Covid-19 is the result of a lab leak, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.
“I would like to see the medical records of the three people who are reported to have got sick in 2019. Did they really get sick, and if so, what did they get sick with?” the report quoted Fauci as saying. The origin of the virus is hotly contested, with US intelligence agencies still examining reports that researchers at a Chinese virology laboratory in Wuhan were seriously ill in 2019 a month before the first Covid-19 cases were reported.
Chinese scientists and officials have consistently rejected the lab leak hypothesis, saying the virus could have been circulating in other regions before it hit Wuhan and might have even entered China through imported frozen food shipments or wildlife trading.
Taiwan gets vaccines from Japan
A flight carrying 1.24 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine from Japan arrived in Taiwan on Friday to help it fight its largest outbreak. Neither country mentioned the feud between Taiwan and China over the island’s efforts to get the Pfizer and BioNTech jab.
Delta variant now dominant in UK
The Delta variant of Covid-19, or the B1.617.2 highly transmissible variant of concern (VOC) first identified in India, has become the dominant VOC in the UK and may come with an increased risk of hospitalisation, health officials in Britain have said.
Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for teens in UK
The UK’s medicines regulator on Friday approved the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for 12 to 15 year olds, saying it is “safe and effective” in this age group and the benefits outweigh any risks.
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