Antibodies in blood collected from 40 people who received both doses of the
The immunity generated against this new strain was similar in efficiency to that against the original
The findings suggest that the
"Although sustained neutralization of the current B.1.1.7 variant is reassuring, preparation for potential COVID-19 vaccine strain change is prudent," they wrote.
"Adaptation of the vaccine to a new virus strain would be facilitated by the flexibility of mRNA-based vaccine technology," they said.
The
However, concerns have been raised about the vaccine's effectiveness against new strains first identified in
For this study, the researchers used blood samples from 40 people who had received both doses of the
As a result of vaccination, the blood contained antibodies, or cells created by the immune system to fight off viruses, against COVID-19, the researchers said.
The researchers tested the ability of the antibodies created by the
The blood had "slightly reduced" but largely preserved neutralizing antibodies against the B.1.1.7 strain, the researchers said.
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