AstraZeneca examining impact of new Covid-19 variant on vaccine

The company has also developed an antibody cocktail which can be used both to prevent and to treat Covid-19

AstraZeneca said on Friday it was examining the impact of a new coronavirus variant that is spreading rapidly in South Africa on its vaccine and its antibody cocktail, adding it was hopeful its combination drug would retain efficacy.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday designated a new Covid-19 variant B.1.1.529, detected in South Africa with a large number of mutations, as being "of concern".

AstraZeneca has distributed 2 billion doses of its vaccine worldwide, although rollout of the shot was paused in South Africa in February after it was shown to offer minimal protection against mild to moderate illness caused by