Ugur Sahin states that it is very likely that the virus will mutate and it is possible that a new variant could evade the immunity induced by current vaccines. For this you may need a tailor-made preparation next year
A new formulation of the Covid vaccine may be needed next year to protect against mutations in the virus. This was stated in an interview with the Financial Times by the CEO of BioNTech, Ugur Sahin, who with the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer contributed to the creation of the first mRNA vaccine against Covid, the best-selling drug in the world in 2021.
New mutations over time
This year a different vaccine completely useless but by the middle of next year we could find ourselves in a different situation said Ugur Sahin explaining that over time they could emerge mutations capable of evading the body’s immune defenses. Variants currently in circulation, such as Delta, are more contagious but not diverse enough to jeopardize the effectiveness of current vaccines. But the virus will continue to develop mutations that could escape the vaccine-induced immune response, necessitating a “tailored” version to specifically target the new strain. Strain that, remember, does not yet exist and for now the vaccine on the market is sufficient to very effectively protect against serious disease. However – says Ugur Sahin – we still don’t know how the virus will evolve. We have no reason to assume that the next generation virus will be less of a problem for our immune system than the existing virus. Evolution continues, just begun.
Ad hoc vaccine
Although an ad hoc vaccine against the Delta variant has not been deemed necessary at the moment, Pfizer and BioNTech are working to provide an updated mRna anti-Covid vaccine against Covid-19, to make it even more effective against the delta variant and last August a clinical trial was started. on the updated vaccine. In fact, the first data from Israel showed a 30% drop in the effectiveness of the vaccine against symptomatic disease six months after the end of the vaccination cycle. However, the preparation remains very protective against severe forms and death (around 93%). The efficacy data over time are highly variable depending on the country where the studies were carried out, on average, however, we speak of at least 9-12 months.
October 3, 2021 (change October 3, 2021 | 16:41)
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