American pharmaceutical Pfizer and the German biotech company BioNTech have announced on 1 April, 2021 that its Coronavirus vaccine was 91.3% effective against Covid-19. The topline results were derived from analysis of 927 confirmed symptomatic cases of the virus observed in their pivotal Phase 3 study through March 13, 2021.

 

That’s slightly lower than an efficacy rate of 95% it announced earlier on 18 Nov, 2020. Still, anything above 90% is considered a top grade vaccine. In addition, the pharmaceutical company also announced that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was 100% effective in preventing severe disease as defined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

 

Along with Moderna (94.1% efficacy), they are among the most effective of of all the developed vaccines at preventing infection and disease. They are the “crème de la crème” of the world’s vaccines against Coronavirus. However, we have since passed the stage of talking about efficacy. The world has a new problem that many prefer not to talk about – variants of Covid-19.

Just because a top vaccine like Pfizer has an excellent efficacy does not mean it’s the Holy Grail in the extermination of the virus. For months, new variants of Coronavirus have been emerging and circulating around the world. In fact, there are thousands of variants, or different versions, of Covid-19. But the top-3 most famous are the U.K., South Africa and Brazil variants.

 

While the Brazilian variant (also known as P.1) first emerged in July and has something called E484K mutation, the U.K. or “Kent” version (known as B.1.1.7) has become famous after it spread to about 100 countries since it emerged in September. The South Africa variant (known as B.1.351), meanwhile, has been found in at least 20 countries, including the U.K.

 

The notorious U.K. variant is up to 70% more infectious largely because of one mutation called “N501Y”. But the South Africa is more dangerous than the U.K. version because it has both “N501Y” and “E484K” mutations. Sure, the N501Y plays a major role in spreading. But the E484K helps the virus evade antibodies and parts of the immune system that can fight Coronavirus.

And since the South African variant escapes immunity, the body will not be able to fight the virus. It was already bad that the N501Y could turbo charged its engine up to 70% more speed to spread to 100 countries. It becomes worse that E484K could transform itself into a new Camaro like the Bumblebee – hence the ability to evade authorities or vaccines.

 

Even though Pfizer and BioNTech declared as recently as April 1 that their Covid-19 vaccine was highly effective against the South African variant, new data revealed by researchers at Tel Aviv University and Clalit, the largest healthcare organization in Israel, show otherwise. Apparently, the Israeli data shows the variant is able to “break through” or penetrate the protection offered by Pfizer vaccine.

 

Israel, a country that has used the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccine almost exclusively to vaccinate millions of citizens and healthcare workers, launched its national vaccination campaign in December prioritizing people 60 and older. In just 3 weeks, about 20% of the Israeli population have been given the first dose of the vaccine’s two dose regimen.

As of March 15, a jaw-dropping 50% of Israel’s population had been fully vaccinated, and 60% had its first dose. Essentially, Israel has the highest vaccinated population in the world per capita. This rapid rate of vaccination allows the country to research and establish the latest data, the first in the world to be based on real-world data that shows the Pfizer vaccine is less effective against the South Africa variant.

 

The study examined and compared nearly 400 people who had tested positive for Covid-19, 14 days or more after they received at least one dose of the vaccine. They then compared them to the same number of people who were infected and unvaccinated. The result – the prevalence of the South African strain among patients who received two doses of the vaccine was about 8 times higher.

 

Professor Adi Stern, who headed the research, said – “Based on patterns in the general population, we would have expected just one case of the South African variant, but we saw eight. Obviously, this result didn’t make me happy”. She said that the results show that the South African variant, compared to the original strain and the British variant, is able to penetrate the vaccine’s protection.

Nevertheless, the Israeli researchers said that the study only had a small sample size of people infected with the South African variant, largely because the B.1.351 variant is rare in Israel. But the gloomy result was sufficient to raise questions about Pfizer-BioNTech’s own real-world study. The Tel Aviv research appears to corroborate another Israeli study by scientists from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

 

Professor Stern believed there could be good news behind the bad news – the British variant may be “blocking” the spread of the South Africa. She explained – “It is possible that the extensive spread of the British variant is blocking the spread of the South African variant. Because it spread so effectively, it basically didn’t allow the South African variant to spread – it won the competition”.

 

Interestingly, about 2 weeks ago, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky went off script and made an emotional plea to Americans amid fears of a fourth wave. Speaking during a White House briefing, she said – “We have so much to look forward to, so much promise and potential of where we are and so much reason for hope. But right now, I’m scared.”

Appeared to be holding back her tears, she said – “I’m speaking today not necessarily as your CDC director, but as a wife, as a mother, as a daughter to ask you to just please hold on a little while longer. I so badly want to be done. I know you all so badly want to be done. We are just almost there, but not quite yet”. Perhaps she knew about the Israel’s study when she issued the dire warning.

 

Other Articles That May Interest You …

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• Sinopharm And Sinovac – Should You Trust Any Of These Chinese Covid-19 Vaccines?
• South Africa Suspends “Ineffective” Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 Vaccine – Plans To Sell It And Use J&J Instead
• Before You Rush For Covid-19 Vaccine, Remember This – You Can’t Sue Anyone If Suffer Any Serious Side Effects
• Forget UK’s Covid-19 Variant – This South African Coronavirus Variant Is Deadlier And Can Spread Even Faster
• Mistake Or Cheating? – AstraZeneca-Oxford Admits Manufacturing Error In Its Vaccine Effectiveness Results
• Moderna Reveals Covid Vaccine – Here’s How This 94.5% Effective Vaccine Differs From Pfizer’s Vaccine
• Coronavirus – Here’s How China Is Back To Normal While The U.S. And Europe Are Getting From Bad To Worse
• Russia Reveals “Sputnik V” – But Scientists Condemn The Coronavirus Vaccine As Risky, Dangerous & Could Backfire
• 3 Coronavirus Variants Discovered – Surprisingly, “Type-A” Found In Americans, Wuhan’s Type-B And Type-C In Europe

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April 12th, 2021 by financetwitter

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