Pfizer and Moderna Begin Efficacy Trials for COVID Variant Vaccines (Comprehensive)

BioNTech "New Vaccine Available Within 6 Weeks"
Moderna "Additional Testing Likely Needed for Weeks"
AstraZeneca "Expected to Be Effective Against Variants"

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] Pfizer and Moderna, developers of COVID-19 vaccines, announced that they have begun efficacy tests of their vaccines against the COVID-19 variant virus reported in the UK. AstraZeneca in the UK also stated that its vaccine is expected to be effective against the variant virus.

According to foreign media including CNN on the 22nd (local time), Pfizer stated in a press release the day before that it is collecting data by obtaining blood samples from recovered patients with COVID-19 immunity to test the immune response of the vaccine against the variant virus.

Ugur Sahin, CEO of German BioNTech, which co-developed the vaccine with Pfizer, said at a press conference held that day, "The vaccine is highly likely to cope with the variant virus," and added, "It will take two weeks of research and data collection to confirm the vaccine's effectiveness." He continued, "The variant virus has mutations in only 9 amino acids out of 1,270 amino acids," and emphasized, "The vaccine co-developed with Pfizer contains 99% of the amino acids to respond to the variant virus, so it will be effective, and technically, a new vaccine can be provided within six weeks."

Moderna also stated in a press release that day, "We expect the immunity generated by our vaccine to provide protection against the UK variant virus," and "additional experiments will be conducted over the coming weeks."

Meanwhile, AstraZeneca, a British pharmaceutical company, also announced that its vaccine is expected to be effective against the variant virus and that additional tests will be conducted. According to The New York Times (NYT), on the 22nd, AstraZeneca stated in a press release, "Our vaccine contains the genetic material of the COVID-19 virus protein, and since the UK variant virus is not a structural change of the protein, it is expected to have a preventive effect," and "additional research is underway to clearly prove this."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.