The Covid-19 vaccine developed by BioNTech and Pfizer is likely to be effective against a rapidly spreading strain of the virus that was first discovered in the UK, a laboratory-based study by the companies has found.

The variant, known as B.1.1.7, has a high number of mutations, which has led to concerns that could bypass the immune defences built up by vaccines being rolled out globally, a large proportion of which have been made by BioNTech and Pfizer.

The result of a laboratory trial of the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was released on January 20. The study, which remains to be peer-reviewed, was published on preprint server BioRxiv.

The results of the study showed that the antibodies present in the blood of vaccinated persons were able to neutralize a version of the lab generated mutant coronavirus strain.

An earlier study on the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine which conducted by the University of Texas Medical Branch had focused only on one mutation of the coronavirus, but the new research has tested all 10 possible mutations of the pathogen.

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