Dr. Pei-Yong Shi, professor and John Sealy Distinguished Chair in Innovations in Molecular Biology at University of Texas Medical Branch, is the senior author of a new study that shows the Pfizer vaccine neutralizes the Brazilian variant. Shi studied blood from the vaccinated and compared them against the variants. “The results found from the U.K. and Brazilian variants, the vaccinated blood equally inhibit those two compared variants with the original virus, ” said Shi. “In contrast, the South African strain that the antibodies from the vaccinated individual dropped its the activity by two-thirds.” As for the Moderna, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson vaccine, Shi considers the South African strain “a major concern,” but stresses that all three vaccines inhibit the virus below a dangerous threshold.