In the past few months, vaccines of various technical routes around the world have reduced their protective efficacy against COVID-19 virus variants to varying degrees. Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said on Tuesday that he believes that a vaccine-resistant variant of COVID-19 will eventually emerge.
Burla told the media on Tuesday, “(Currently) we have not identified any one (the COVID-19 variant has broken through the vaccine protection), but we believe that one day, this (COVID-19) variant may appear.” He added Said that Pfizer can produce a new version of the vaccine to combat the variant within three months after the discovery of the variant virus.
Burla said, "We have established a process that allows us to tailor a vaccine for this variant within 95 days from the date we identify a variant as a'focused variant'."
This is not the first time someone has expressed concern about the resistance of the COVID-19 vaccine. A report issued by the British Government’s Emergency Scientific Advisory Group (Sage) at the end of last month pointed out that a variant of the COVID-19 virus will appear “almost certain” that will cause all current vaccines to “use ineffective”.
Although the vaccines of various technical routes around the world have different degrees of decline in the protective efficacy of COVID-19 virus variants, they still have a certain neutralizing effect on various variants and have protective effects.
However, the Sage report pointed out that some mutated strains appeared before the popularization of the vaccine, and with the popularization of the vaccine, it is possible that a mutated virus with better transmission ability will be produced. "The report recommends that the government should do its best to prevent epidemics in order to reduce the resistance of mutant viruses to existing vaccines.
"These vaccines have indeed played a very good role in protecting us from serious illness and death, but the biggest concern is the next possible variant-just a few mutations may avoid our vaccine." Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), expressed concern at a press conference on July 27.
Data show that in the past month, the number of new COVID-19 confirmed cases in the United States has tripled every day.
Vaccine or invalid? Pfizer CEO: Variant of COVID-19 with vaccine resistance may appear American scientists have discovered "super antibody": it can fight against all COVID-19 variants
However, fortunately, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis recently discovered a "super antibody" that has a high degree of protection against all variant viruses including Delta at low concentrations.
This may mean that there is a glimmer of hope in the medical profession to fight against mutant viruses.
It is worth noting that the antibody can be attached to the part of the spike protein that remains unchanged when the virus mutates. This means that if the virus mutates more in the future, the antibody can still maintain its protective effect, and researchers can combine it with other antibodies Combined use, to create a more effective combination therapy in the face of mutant viruses.
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