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Covid vaccines 'may be less effective against South African variant'

The coronavirus vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna may be less effective against the highly contagious variant first detected in South Africa.

In two new studies, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, the vaccines seemed to generate enough antibodies to neutralize the virus.

But the study of the Pfizer shot found that it offered roughly two-thirds less antibody protection.

And the Moderna study found a six-fold decrease in antibody response against the variant from its vaccine.

The findings raise concerns that the companies may need to develop a booster shot to add protection against the variant that is now in 10 U.S. states.

It comes the heels of news from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday that Bristol variant of the virus - which has the same makeup of the UK variant with an additional mutation - has been detected for the first time in the U.S.