Viral variant is less responsive to COVID vaccine

Pfizer antibody is a RNA based vaccine, which targets the spike protein in Covid-19 virus. There are new variants of the virus identified across the world. These virus variants have mutations in the spike protein. Researchers from the University of Texas genetically engineered several variants of SARS-CoV-2, including one that has the same mutations as the variant called B.1.351, which was first identified in South Africa. The team then tested the antibody efficacy against these variants and found that vaccine was able to neutralize the virus only one-third as effectively as the original Covid-19 strain. 
 
For more information: Y. Liu et al. N. Engl. J. Med. https://doi.org/fwsc; 2021