n early 2021, researchers studying coronaviruses collected in California spotted a pair of

SARS-CoV-2 variants that share several mutations affecting the spike protein, which the
virus uses to infect cells. The variants, B.1.427 and B.1.429, have been identified in 30
countries and most US states and, by February 2021, accounted for more than half of the
SARS-CoV-2 viruses sequenced from California.

To better gauge any threat posed by the variants, David Veesler at the University of
Washington in Seattle and his colleagues conducted laboratory tests of the variants’
ability to elude infection-blocking molecules called neutralizing antibodies (M.
McCallum et al. Preprint at bioRxiv https://doi.org/f5jq; 2021). The tests showed that
neutralizing antibodies generated by people who had received two doses of either the
Pfizer or the Moderna vaccine were, on average, three times less potent against viruses
with the spike-protein mutations found in B.1.427 and B.1.429 than against viruses
lacking those mutations. The findings have not yet been peer reviewed.

In December 2019, a novel coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2 has resulted in

the outbreak of a respiratory illness known as COVID-19. Karger Publishers
supports research in this area by providing free access to relevant articles
(listed below) and works with international organisations to support the
sharing of relevant research and data, including supporting the WHO and the
initiative from the White House Office of Science and Technology to make all
relevant research and data immediately available in one place via PubMed
Central (PMC). In addition, to enable fast access to research articles, we
have signed the consensus statement by Wellcome about Sharing research data
and findings relevant to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
Number of articles in this package: 286
Connecting and Advancing Health Sciences in Times of the Current Pandemic
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