In a study published in Nature Medicine, Pfizer’s mRNA vaccine, the first vaccine approved in the United States for use against COVID-19, neutralized three variants of the virus, including the B.1.1.7 strain first identified in the United Kingdom, and two new variants first confirmed in South Africa. University of Texas Medical Branch researchers engineered three COVID-19 viruses with the spike mutations from the variants. They measured neutralization geometric mean titers (GMTs) against the variants in 20 samples of human sera from subjects who had been vaccinated with Pfizer’s two-dose vaccine 2 to 4 weeks earlier.

As seen in other studies, the neutralization GMT of the serum panel against the virus with three mutations from the South Africa variant was slightly lower than the neutralization GMTs against the N501Y virus or the virus with mutations from the UK variants however, the difference was not great.

Bottom line, everything says get vaccinated, and there are three current options available in the United States. If you haven’t already done so, when your category is called, get in line!

Stay the course, stay well and stay tuned!