RE:RE:RE:Maybe try reading the news release? Right your one of thoseHuh? There are hundreds of vaccines and therapeutics already in development.
Focused on the spike
Let's start with a little background on the virus itself, the vaccines, and the variants. The coronavirus contains a "spike protein." These are literally spikes on the virus' surface that allow it to attach to cells and infect them. Vaccine makers are focused on this spike. In the cases of Pfizer and Moderna, their vaccines contain instructions so that the body can make a copy of this spike protein. Then the body produces antibodies to fight it. That way, if the actual coronavirus appears, this army of antibodies will recognize it and attack.
The newly discovered coronavirus variants each contain genetic mutations, or changes. And in each variant, the changes affect the spike protein. So now the question is: With these changes to the spike protein, will those antibodies still recognize it?
So far, the situation looks positive for both Moderna and Pfizer. Moderna said its vaccine includes the entire sequence needed to make the spike protein. That's 1,273 amino acids. The new variants include about eight changes in the spike protein amino acids. Overall, that means the "new spike protein" is about 1% different from the original coronavirus spike protein -- the one encoded in Moderna's vaccine. The company is testing its vaccine against the new variants but expects the vaccine to prove effective.
Moderna and Pfizer both comment
Moderna says that if it eventually must update its vaccine, the process wouldn't require big clinical trials, according to an article in MIT Technology Review. So, an updated vaccine could move from drawing board to market in a few months as long as regulators give it the nod.
As for Pfizer, the company recently conducted an in-vitro test against a mutation within the new strains that's linked to rapid transmission. The company said antibodies from people who were vaccinated neutralized the U.K. and South African strains. Still, the test didn't include the entire set of mutations from the new variants. Pfizer said more data are needed to confirm the vaccine's effectiveness against new strains. The company also said that if newer mutations eventually lead to a decline in vaccine efficacity, updating the current vaccine wouldn't be a problem.