Pfizer announced small variations in the original COVID-19 virus and mutant strains are unlikely to lower their vaccines’ effectiveness. The news comes after suggestions that the pharmaceutical giant’s supply would not be fully effective in battling the new virus variants that recently emerged from the UK and South Africa. “The small differences in viral neutralisation observed in these studies are unlikely to lead to a significant reduction in the effectiveness of the vaccine,” Pfizer and BioNTech said in response to results from a new vaccine study. The companies said they are prepared to respond if there is a lowered immunity provided by the COVID-19 vaccine. However, they noted, “these findings do not indicate the need for a new vaccine to address the emerging variants”. Both companies also committed to monitoring the vaccine’s “real-world effectiveness” and were confident that their platform’s flexibility would allow them to develop new vaccine variants if required. Global …