[News] The United States does not want trials on coronavirus mutations to be too long

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Laboratories are trying to adapt vaccines against the British, South African and Brazilian variant of the virus, all of which have been detected in the United States.

On Monday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which is the United States regulatory body in charge of approving coronavirus vaccines, recommended that the trials of those that are being adapted against the coronavirus mutations.

In a series of recommendations, the FDA called for smaller trials, similar to those required for annual vaccines against the common flu, to tailor vaccines against the British, South African and Brazilian variants of the virus, all them detected in the United States.

“Preliminary reports of clinical trials evaluating COVID-19 vaccine candidates in many countries, including South Africa, have added concern that the efficacy of vaccines against variant B.1.351 (the South African mutation) may be lower than against original virus, ”says a 24-page document posted on the US regulator's website.

"Therefore," he adds, "there is an urgent need to start the development and evaluation of vaccines against these variants of SARS-CoV-2."

Still, to get FDA approval, companies will need to submit new data showing an immune response similar to the original vaccine and that it is safe after testing for mutations.

So far, the US has granted authorization for the emergency use of vaccines from the pharmaceutical company Pfizer and the biotechnology company Moderna.

The sera of both use messenger RNA (mRNA in English) technology, which both Pfizer and Moderna claim can be used to modify existing vaccines in a period of six weeks to adapt them to new variants, although the tests and their manufacture can take longer.

Moderna has already begun to develop a new version of its vaccine that could be used against the South African mutation, against which the existing ones are apparently not as effective.

The FDA recommendation does not clarify whether vaccine adaptations are really necessary: although some mutations - especially the South African one - appear to make them less effective, current doses still offer protection and there are indications that they are reducing severity of the illness.

And while he recommends that trials not be prolonged, he does propose that tests be carried out that require researchers to draw blood from a small group of volunteers who are given the new version of the vaccines and who observe who develop an immune response to mutations.

The FDA will consider acceptable those vaccines that induce an immune response relatively similar to that caused by the original version.

It also calls for possible side effects to be monitored, although the FDA notes that tailored vaccines can be tested in a single age group and then extrapolated to all other ages.

The United States is the country in the world most affected by the pandemic with about half a million deaths and more than 28 million infected.