Israel finds Indian variant even among vaccinated - although it appears the vaccine offers some efficacy.

[kiwibird]

https://seekingalpha.com/news/36885...n-among-vaccinated-sees-some-vaccine-efficacy

41 new cases of the Indian variant have been found in Israel - including in 4 previously vaccinated individuals.

• 24 of those infected with the variant have recently returned from abroad, and the remaining 17 cases are due to community transmission.
• The Pfizer (NYSE:PFE)/BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) COVID-19 vaccine is believed to be at least ?partially? effective against the variant, Reuters reported quoting Israeli health officials.
• "The impression is that the Pfizer vaccine has efficacy against it, albeit a reduced efficacy," the ministry's director-general, Hezi Levy, has told Kan public radio, confirming that the country found eight cases with the new variant last week.

 

[kiwibird]

https://www.biospace.com/article/in...g-companies-confident-vaccines-are-effective/

Another study out of India, yet to be peer-reviewed, found that the existing vaccines should be effective against the Indian variant, not just the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. In the context of the Indian outbreak, it appears that the vaccine Covaxin, most commonly used in India, is effective against the double mutant variant.

There are two vaccines currently available in India: Bharat Biotech's Covaxin and the Serum Institiute-AstraZeneca-Oxford Covishield vaccine. Others are expected to be available there soon, such as Russia's Sputnik V.

 

[Vibrant62]

I find this worrying. Mild or even subclinical infections with partial escape variants in previously vaccinated people is surely going to up the odds of the virus further evolving away from the established immune protection in a single host (much like case studies on viral evolution in a single host i.e immunocompromised people have shown)? On a 'plus' note, if this is going to be a problem, it will be most easily spotted in the Israeli population that has near total vaccine coverage, so any emergence there can be spotted quickly. Conversely, if this problem doesn't emerge here, it is less likely to do so anywhere.. which would be good news.