In a new research carried out by US scientists, it is been said that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines could be highly effective against two COVID-19 variants first identified in India. If this is proved right then it can be termed as a big relief for India in its fight against the deadly second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines appear to protect against COVID-19 variants B.1.617 and B.1.618 first identified in India, researchers have reported.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has classified the coronavirus variant first found in India as a 'variant of global concern'. According to WHO, studies show that B.1.617 mutation spreads more easily than other variants.
The lab-based study was carried out by the NYU Grossman School of Medicine and NYU Langone Center. However, the study is in its preliminary stage and has not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal.
This kind of lab investigation cannot predict what the real world efficacy might look like that will have to be investigated through other studies.
How the test was conducted?
The researchers first took blood from people who were vaccinated with either of the two shots - Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.
They then exposed these samples in a lab to engineered pseudovirus particles that contained mutations in the 'spike' region of the coronavirus, which were particular to either the B.1.617 or B.1.618 variants.
Finally, that mixture was exposed to lab-grown cells, to see how many would become infected.
The engineered pseudovirus particles contained an enzyme called luciferase, which fireflies use to light up.
Adding it to the pseudovirus makes it possible to tell how many cells are infected, based on light measurements.
Overall, for B.1.617 they found an almost four-fold reduction in the amount of neutralizing antibodies - Y-shaped proteins the immune system creates to stop pathogens from invading cells.
For B.1.618, the reduction was around three-fold.
