AstraZeneca Races to Adapt COVID Vaccine to Variant as South Africa Suspends Rollout

CNBC News is reporting that drugmaker AstraZeneca is racing to adapt its COVID-19 vaccine in the face of new variants of the coronavirus. The process has become increasingly urgent after a small-scale study determined that it was less effective at safeguarding against the more virulent strain discovered in South Africa. Known formally as the B.1.351 mutation, the variant was first detected in South Africa in October and has become dominant in that country. A number of cases have been found elsewhere, sending global health authorities scrambling to stop the spread of a mutation that has proven to be more infectious. There had already been concerns that this variant could be more resistant to COVID-19 vaccines developed over the last year.