South African variant may 'break through' Pfizer vaccine protection, but vaccine highly effective, Israeli study says

FILE PHOTO: A woman receives a vaccination against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at a temporary Clalit healthcare maintenance organisation (HMO) centre, in Herzliya, Israel February 3, 2021. REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File Photo

(Updates April 10 story with additional information from researchers)

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The coronavirus variant discovered in South Africa can break through the protection provided by Pfizer Inc and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine to some extent, a real-world data study in Israel found. However, the variant's prevalence in Israel is very low and the vaccine remains highly effective.