Madhi: When researchers looked at protection that the #AstraZeneca jab provided against mild to moderate #Covid19 disease, there was considerable protection against the original form of the virus. But the antibodies induced by the jab didn't work nearly as well for #501YV2. 
There was very little difference between the protection the vaccine provided for people infected with #501YV2 and the placebo group (the group that was infected with a saline solution instead of the #AstraZeneca vaccine).
Madhi's team found that the #AstraZeneca vaccine provided almost no protection against the #501YV2 variant, also known as the #B1351 variant. There is hope: the Johnson&Johnson (Jansen) jab provides 89% protection against severe #Covid19 caused by #501YV2.
Good news is: Two or three vaccines that have been adapted to the #501YV2 variant are going into clinical trials soon. But, Madhi says, we need to rethink our expectations of #CovidVaccines within the context of new variants.
We don't yet know if the #AstraZeneca vaccine will protect against severe #COVID19 causes by #501YV2. All we know is that it doesn't protect against mild to moderate #COVID19 caused by the new variant.
But we now also have some evidence from the #Novavax vaccine trial, says Madhi, that showed that people with natural immunity against the original form of #SARSCoV2 (the virus that causes #COVID19), aren't protected against being infected with #501YV2.
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