AstraZeneca vaccine works in older adults, UK says

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How European public health authorities are struggling to persuade

AstraZeneca‘s

Covid-19 vaccine – and large numbers of doses sitting unused – UK scientists are out with a study that could reduce concerns about the vaccine.

In a statement on Monday, Public Health England, the UK government’s health authority, cited a worldwide study by its scientists of the effectiveness of

AstraZeneca

(ticker: AZN) and

Pfizer

Vaccines (PFE). The study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, found that the AstraZeneca vaccine was between 60% and 73% effective in adults age 70 and older.

“This contributes to growing evidence that vaccines work to reduce disease and save lives,” the head of vaccination at Public Health England, Dr Mary Ramsay, said in a statement. “While there is much more data to follow, this is encouraging and we are increasingly confident that vaccines are making a real difference.”

Although the UK has recommended that all adults receive the AstraZeneca vaccine, the European Union and the World Health Organization have done the same, there is limited evidence of its effectiveness in older adults. lead to narrower recommendations in some countries. German authorities recommended at the end of January that the vaccine should not be given to adults over 65, and the French authorities did the same.

Now, that backlash seems to be waning. On Tuesday, the French government said that people with pre-existing conditions, and ages 65 to 75, could now get the AstraZeneca vaccine – although people aged 75 and over could get the

Pfizer

or the Moderna vaccine, according to a BBC report.

The BBC reported earlier this week that German health authorities were under pressure to recommend the AstraZeneca vaccine for older adults in the country.

On Monday, the Canadian group that sets guidelines against the AstraZeneca vaccine against adults over 65, advised the country ‘s drug regulator to approve the drug on Friday.

The cautious approach has spread suspicion in Germany and France about the effectiveness of the AstraZeneca vaccine. An AFP report on Monday found that supplies of the vaccine were going unused in France and Germany, even as the French health minister received his dose live on TV.

The study from Public Health England used routine test and vaccine data to estimate the effect of vaccination on Covid-19 cases in older adults.

“This study provides the first evidence in the world of the efficacy of Covid-19 vaccine against symptomatic Covid-19 in the elderly in the UK,” the authors concluded. “The effect of one dose of [AstraZeneca] the immunization against symbolic disease was around 60-75% and there was an additional protective effect against hospitalization, although it is too early to assess the impact and mortality. ”

The implications for the U.S. vaccine market are unclear, as the timeline for vaccine approval here has not yet been set. It is unlikely to arrive this month.

Write to Josh Nathan-Kazis at [email protected]