JAKARTA - Producer AstraZeneca on Friday said it was researching the impact of a new COVID-19 vaccine that is spreading rapidly in South Africa on its vaccine and antibody cocktail. They hope the drug combination will maintain the vaccine's efficacy.
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday designated a new variant of COVID-19 B11529 found in South Africa with a large mutation, as a "variant of concern".
AstraZeneca has distributed two billion doses of the vaccine worldwide, although in February its use in South Africa was discontinued because it proved to provide little protection against mild to moderate disease caused by the Beta variant.
At that time the Beta variant became dominant in the country.
"As with the emergence of new variants, we are examining B11529 to better understand it and its impact on the vaccine," AstraZeneca said in a statement, quoted by Antara. It also admitted that it was conducting research in Botswana and Eswatini to collect data.
"That will allow us to compile real-world data on Vaxzevria against this new variant of the virus."
The Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company confirmed that its vaccine was proven to be effective against all the SARS-CoV-2 variants that it was wary of.
AstraZeneca said it and the University of Oxford have developed a vaccine platform to respond quickly to new variants.
The manufacturer previously said it was making a variant vaccine that was more targeted at the Beta variant.
Although some scientists have expressed concern that mutations in the spike protein might circumvent the efficacy of monoclonal antibody drugs, AstraZeneca's drug blend may preserve its efficacy, the company said.
"We are also testing our long-term antibody combination AZD7442 against this new variant and hope that AZD7442 will maintain its efficacy as it consists of two strong antibodies with different and mutually counterbalancing activities against the virus," he said.
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