The study by Pfizer and the University of Texas Medical Branch, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, suggests the pharmaceutical giant’s vaccine would work against the highly transmissible mutation first found in the UK. Another variant found in South Africa, called the E484K mutation, has not been examined yet.
Phil Dormitzer, one of Pfizer’s top viral vaccine scientists, noted another mutation found in the South African variant, called the E484K mutation, is also concerning. The researchers plan to run similar tests to see if the vaccine is effective against other mutations found in the UK and South African variants and hope to have more data within weeks.