Pfizer vaccine appears effective against UK virus variant -- study

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine appears to be effective against the British variant of the coronavirus, according to the results of a study released today.

The study, which was posted on bioRxiv.org, has yet to be peer reviewed. Its 11 authors included the two cofounders of BioNTech.

The findings come a week after an initial Pfizer study suggested the vaccine can protect against the British and South African variants.

Israel’s coronavirus czar Nachman Ash told ministers yesterday that the UK variant accounts for 30-40 percent of current infections and will become the dominant strain in Israel within weeks.