LONDON – A Covid-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca PLC is effective against a combination of rapidly spreading coronavirus in the U.S. and worldwide, according to a new study, a reassuring sign for governments which is banking on major vaccines to end the pandemic.
The initial results, published in an online survey Friday that have not been formally reviewed by other scientists, follow similar results to comments from other manufacturers.
Initial Reviews from Pfizer Inc.
and Moderna Inc.
they found that their Covid-19 strains still offered protection against new viral changes that contributed to a new rise in cases in the UK, Europe, South Africa and elsewhere.
Nonetheless, vaccine manufacturers are preparing new images that will elaborate on the new changes, confirming how mutations in the virus are at risk of becoming more common. pushing the pandemic a year into a long-running cat and mouse game between scientists and a moving enemy. To date the virus behind Covid-19 has been linked to nearly 2.3 million deaths worldwide and more than 100 million cases.
The study published on Friday looked at the effectiveness of the AstraZeneca vaccine against a new strain of coronavirus that was first identified in the UK last year.
As new coronavirus changes sweep around the world, scientists are racing to understand how dangerous they can be. WSJ explains. Photo: Alex Kuzoian / WSJ
The variant has now downgraded old strains to become the strongest form of the coronavirus in Britain and is spreading in many other countries, including the US, where public health officials have said that it could be the strongest version of the virus.
Initial estimates show that the variant from the UK is 50% -70% more susceptible than earlier versions of the virus. UK scientists recently said early data suggested it could be more lethal.
Researchers examined blood samples from approximately 256 participants in a follow-up clinical trial of the vaccine in the UK who tested positive for Covid-19.
A genetic sequence allowed them to identify which participants were infected with the new version and had an older version. The new variable was at just under a third.
By testing antibody levels and other indicators of immune system activity against the virus, the researchers found that the vaccine stimulated an effective immune response against the new strain in 75% of cases. who showed signs of infection, and in about two-thirds of cases if those who did not show symptoms were also included.
UK Coronavirus variant
The small-scale study showed that the vaccine works slightly better against older, more established versions of the virus. For those with the oldest weight, the vaccine was effective in 84% of symptomatic cases and 81% of all cases.
The researchers reported that antibody responses were significantly different among the two groups, stating that certain types of antibodies induced by the vaccine were up to nine times less effective at neutralizing the variant. new than the old ones. Overall defense was similar, however, suggesting that another part of the defense system plays a key role.
Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccination Group at Oxford University, said it is not entirely clear which biological mechanisms are most important. T cells may be fighting diseases or other types of antibodies, he said.
“We don’t know the answer,” he said.
Nearly 120 million doses of vaccine have been given worldwide, according to figures compiled by Oxford University’s Our World in Data project. The distribution has been inconsistent, with some countries such as Israel and the UK moving swiftly to evict the most at-risk citizens and others, including in Europe, because of supply and other issues. To date the US has given at least one dose of vaccine to 35 million people, about 10% of their population.
Vaccine manufacturers say the technology behind Covid-19 vaccines should allow them to quickly redraw their production lines to produce views that are more focused on new and emerging changes .
Some studies have suggested that a variant first identified in South Africa may be as susceptible to current vaccines than the UK variant. Companies including Moderna, Pfizer and its partners BioNTech SE, Johnson & Johnson and Novavax Inc.
designing new vaccines to specifically target South African diversity.
Babak Javid, an associate professor of infectious diseases at the University of California, San Francisco, said small differences in how vaccines perform against new variants compared to established versions are not a major concern while those vaccinated are protected from serious illness and hospitalization. That will be crucial for determining when countries take a break for locks and other public health restrictions, he said.
Write to Jason Douglas at [email protected]
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