2023-08-17 21:25:00
Dubai – Al Arabiya.net
Posted on: August 18, 2023: 01:25 AM GST Last updated: August 18, 2023: 07:00 AM GST
Today, Thursday, Pfizer revealed that its vaccine, which it developed and modified against Covid-19, and which is conducting experiments to test its effectiveness against emerging mutated versions, showed an ability to neutralize the mutant (Iris) during a study conducted on mice.
Pfizer, along with its German partner BioNTech, as well as Moderna and Novavax, which also make COVID-19 vaccines, have developed versions of their vaccines targeting the XBb1.5 subtype.
The EG5 mutant, which some call iris, is similar to the sub-mutant XBB1.5. Moreover it is a sub-strain of the Omicron mutant which is still dominant.
The AG5 variant is responsible for more than 17% of COVID-19 cases in the United States, according to the latest government data.
In the United States, the number of hospitalizations due to COVID-19 increased by more than 40 percent from the low levels recorded in June. But it is still more than 90% below the peak levels reached during the Omicron outbreak in January 2022.
AG5 has also been detected in China, South Korea, Japan, Canada and other countries.
The World Health Organization classified the mutated as “interesting”, noting that it should be monitored closely and with greater focus than others due to mutations that may make it more capable of spreading and transmitting infection or more severe in terms of symptoms associated with infection.
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