In lab experiment, Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine less potent against coronavirus variant

In lab experiment, Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine less potent against coronavirus variant

Source: 
Stat
snippet: 

The Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine loses some potency against the coronavirus variant that first appeared in South Africa, researchers reported Wednesday, based on lab experiments.

What the findings mean for how well the vaccine will protect real people from the variant, called B.1.351, is hard to tell. But clinical data from three other vaccines — those from AstraZeneca, Novavax, and Johnson & Johnson — have already shown the shots are not as powerful at blocking symptomatic Covid-19 cases caused by B.1.351 as by other forms of the virus.