The Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine was observed to be less effective against the severely mutated Omicron variant, according to a report by NBC News on Wednesday.
Researchers from the Africa Health Research Institute determined that was a massive reduction in vaccine-induced antibodies that could neutralize the new variant detected in several nations.
The omicron variant was seen to be more advanced at evading the antibodies produced by the Pfizer vaccine than the beta variant, which was also discovered first in South Africa.
Dr. Uğur Şahin, the CEO of BioNTech stated that the drugmaker has data coming on Thursday related to the new variant, further stating he would be more optimistic.
There are restrictions to the South African lab study, which was announced online to a pre-print server and has not been peer-reviewed.
The research is based on blood samples obtained from 12 patients who received the Pfizer vaccine but had not received booster shots.
