▲ ⓒ pixabay[트리니티메디컬뉴스=박시정기자] The COVID-19 vaccine developed or completed by the UK pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and the German biotechnology company Bioentech will also be effective in preventing a mutant virus (VUI-202012/01) that is recently spreading in the southeast of the UK. Expressed the opinion that it would be.
According to a report by Reuters on the 22nd (hereafter local time), AstraZeneca, which has developed a corona19 vaccine with Oxford University, said, “Some changes in the genetic code were found in this mutant virus, but it does not appear to change the structure of the protein spike. “He said, “The vaccine candidate’AZD1222′ will also be effective in preventing this variant virus.”
“With AZD1222, the body’s immune system is trained to recognize various parts of protein spikes,” AstraZeneca said. “After exposure to the virus, the trained immune system removed the virus.”
According to a foreign press such as the Associated Press, Ugur Sahin, chief executive of Bioentech, a German biotechnology company who developed the Corona 19 vaccine with Pfizer, said, “Only 9 out of 1270 amino acids in the virus have mutated. The vaccine will respond to the mutant virus. Since it contains 99% amino acids, it is expected that this mutation will have an effect,” he said. “However, additional research is needed to clarify this. It will take about two weeks to complete the experiment and obtain data.”
“Although regulators may need to reapprove changes before using the vaccine,” he said, “but if the vaccine needs to be adapted to the new variant, the company will be able to do so in about six weeks.”
AstraZeneca said, “We have initiated a study on the efficacy of a vaccine candidate under development against the mutant virus.” Pfizer also said, “In order to confirm the effectiveness of the vaccine against the mutant virus, we are collecting data by collecting blood samples from people with immunity to the coronavirus.” Modena, a US pharmaceutical company that developed a vaccine with the US Department of Health and Welfare, also launched a test to verify the efficacy of the vaccine against the UK variant virus.
In recent weeks, the mutant virus, discovered in London and in the southeastern part of the UK, is up to 70% more infectious than the existing virus and appears to be more susceptible to children, raising concerns. In fact, the number of confirmed cases and deaths in the UK is soaring. The British government announced that the number of new confirmed cases and deaths was 36,804 and 691. Both new confirmed cases and deaths are the highest on a daily basis.
While many countries, including Germany and the Netherlands, have taken measures to restrict entry from the UK, the Korean government also announced on the 23rd that it has decided to temporarily suspend flight operations with the UK until the end of the year to block the spread of the mutant virus in Korea. The issuance of quarantine exemptions by Korean diplomatic missions in the UK has also been suspended, so that all immigrants from the UK 14When isolation is carried out, additional gene amplification (PCR) Proceed with inspection.