Mutant South African Covid strain can ‘break through’ Pfizer vaccine, study finds

FILE PHOTO: A healthcare worker prepares a Pfizer coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination in Los Angeles
REUTERS
Leah Sinclair11 April 2021

The South African variant of Covid-19 can “break through” the Pfizer jab, a study has found.

Scientists working on a Tel Aviv University study examined 400 people who had tested positive for coronavirus at least 14 days after taking one or two doses of the jab - and 400 people who had tested positive but hadn’t been vaccinated.

The variant was eight times more prevalent in those who had two jabs than none.

It was detected in 5.4 per cent of people with two doses - but 0.7 per cent of people without any.

Scientists said their results suggested the South African variant is more resistant to vaccines.

Tel Aviv University researcher Adi Stern told ABC News: “We found a disproportionately higher rate of the South African variant among people vaccinated with a second dose, compared to the unvaccinated group.”

However, scientists stressed that of the 800 people examined, the South African Covid variant was identified in just 1 per cent of positive tests due to the rarity of the variant cases in Israel.

The SA variant is thought to be at least 60 per cent more transmissible than the original and more infectious than the Kent variant.

The medicines regulator said there was a possible link between the jab and “extremely rare” blood clots.

A review by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) concluded on Wednesday that “unusual blood clots with low blood platelets should be listed as very rare side effects” of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.

On Sunday, NHS England said a total of 33,248,869 Covid-19 vaccinations took place in England between December 8 and April 10, including first and second doses.

They added that 27,070,991 were the first dose of a vaccine, a rise of 74,055 on the previous day, while 6,177,878 were a second dose, an increase of 437,442.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in