Dr. Scott Gottlieb says the South Africa variant can affect medical countermeasures since it appears to inhibit antibody drugs.
“The South Africa variant is very concerning right now because it does appear that it may obviate some of our medical countermeasures, particularly the antibody drugs,” said Dr. Gottlieb, the former FDA chief in the Trump administration, during an interview on CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith."
“Right now that strain does appear to be prevalent in South America and Brazil, the two parts of the world, right now, that are in their summer, but also experiencing a very dense epidemic, and that’s concerning," he said.
The new South Africa Covid variant has become the dominant strain in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal provinces.
The N501Y mutation that South Africa detected in the spike protein that the virus uses to invade cells within the body was also present in the new strain that the U.K. found in December.
The World Health Organization (WHO) explained that while both variants detected in the U.K. (called “VOC-202012/01,” with VOC meaning “Variant of Concern”) and South Africa have the same N501Y mutation, they remain different.
The South Africa Covid variant involves two other mutations in the spike protein which are not found in the U.K. strain. Moreover, experts believe these developments could change how vaccines fight Covid-19.
South Africa has sustained over 1.1 million coronavirus cases and more than 30,000 deaths, the most on the African continent.
Dr. Gottlieb mentioned experimental evidence from Bloom Lab, saying 501.V2 seems to partially escape prior immunity. With this, some of the antibodies people produce when they contract the virus, as well as the antibody drugs, may not be as effective.
“The new variant has mutated a part of the spike protein that our antibodies bind to, to try to clear the virus itself, so this is concerning,” Dr. Gottlieb said. “Now, the vaccine can become a backstop against these variants really getting more of a foothold here in the United States, but we need to quicken the pace of vaccination.”
The health official recommends working through the most important categories of people more quickly, opening more vaccination sites, and stockpiling a smaller percentage of dosages to inoculate more Americans.
“It really is a race against time trying to get more vaccine into people’s arms before these new variants become more prevalent here in the United States,” said Gottlieb.
According to other U.S. health officials, the strain’s arrival in the country did not surprise them. However, the new variant could make the situation of the country worse if it went unchecked.
On a conference call, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials said data suggests that the new strain transmits more easily and faster compared with other versions of the virus. However, it would not lead to more severe disease in people who are infected and the existing Covid vaccines could still fight it, the institution said.
Experts still warned that the new variant threatens could worsen things if more people are hospitalized as a result of its spread.
