The Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) has dismissed rumors being circulated on social media about COVID-19 vaccines and its efficacy.

In a statement published on WAM, the Ministry underlined the importance of obtaining information from official and reliable sources.

MoHaP also called upon all community members to verify any information before posting or sharing them online, in order to avoid legal liability.

It stressed that all those propagating fake information will be held legally accountable.

Efficacy of COVID vaccine against new variant

A new study of the US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer said that the vaccine it had developed with German biotechnology company BioNTech provides an efficient immune protection against the new variant of COVID-19, which was first identified in the United Kingdom and South Africa.

Pfizer conducted the study together with researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch following the discovery of the new COVID-19 variant carrying a mutation known as N501Y, which is believed to be responsible for the easier transmission of the virus.

Blood samples were taken from 20 people who received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and the samples were then exposed to the UK and South African variants in lab dishes.

The result of the study showed that antibodies created from the inoculation appeared to have successfully fended off the virus in the lab dishes.

Pfizer chief scientific officer Dr Philip Dormitzer said the initial result gives confidence that the efficacy even for new COVID-19 mutation.

“It was a very reassuring finding that at least this mutation, which was one of the ones people are most concerned about, does not seem to be a problem [for the vaccine],” Dormitzer said.