‘Does the COVID-19 Vaccine Work Against Variants from South Africa?’... Emergency Trials Begin

Oxford University Professor "Vaccine Effectiveness Uncertain Against South Africa-Origin Variant"

On the 4th (local time), South Africa urgently began testing to determine whether existing COVID-19 vaccines are effective against the country's variant of the virus. The photo shows a health worker holding a sample collection kit from a COVID-19 vaccine trial participant at the Shandukani Research Center in Johannesburg, South Africa, in August last year. Johannesburg, South Africa ? Photo by Reuters. Yonhap News [Image source: Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Tae-min] South Africa has launched an urgent test to verify whether existing COVID-19 vaccines are effective against the variant virus originating from South Africa. As the variant virus spreads rapidly worldwide, attention is focused on whether the existing vaccines can suppress COVID-19.

According to the Associated Press on the 4th (local time), Dr. Richard Lessells, an infectious disease expert affiliated with the KwaZulu-Natal Research Institute in South Africa, said, "Whether the existing vaccines can suppress the variant virus is the most urgent question we currently face," adding, "We are currently conducting urgent experiments on the variant virus at the institute."

The experiment involves testing how the blood of people with antibodies and those vaccinated reacts to the variant virus. Dr. Lessells added that this test, called a neutralization efficacy test, will help determine whether the vaccine is effective against the variant virus.

This test follows concerns raised the previous day by British experts and health authorities that existing vaccines might not be effective against the South African variant virus. Professor John Bell of Oxford Medical School said in a Times Radio interview on the 3rd, "The currently developed COVID-19 vaccines seem to be effective against the UK variant, but we do not know about the South African variant."

Infections from the variant virus are spreading rapidly worldwide, raising concerns. The New York Times reported on the 2nd that the variant virus had been confirmed in 33 countries. In South Korea, the first infection with the UK variant virus was detected on the 28th of last month, and on the 2nd, the first infection with the South African variant virus was confirmed. Currently, there are a total of 12 variant virus infections in South Korea.

Meanwhile, the South African variant, called '501.V2,' along with the UK variant, is known to have much stronger transmissibility than the existing COVID-19 virus. Since December, South Africa, which has been struggling with a resurgence of COVID-19, is seeing confirmed cases and deaths increase faster than during the peak in July. So far, the cumulative number of confirmed cases has exceeded 1.1 million, and deaths have reached approximately 30,000.

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