A new study has found that the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine effectively prevents infections of COVID-19’s more contagious variant first identified in the United Kingdom. The drug company commissioned the study from the University of Texas of the so-called N501Y mutation, though the results have not yet been peer-reviewed. In total, the Pfizer vaccine was found to be effective against 16 versions of the virus. The mutated virus has brought the United Kingdom to its knees, inducing a second stringent lockdown, and has spread to the United States as well as dozens of other countries. The United States has recorded more than 21 million cases of COVID-19, including roughly 250,000 on Thursday alone, and over 360,000 deaths.