LONDON: AstraZeneca and Oxford University have similar efficacy to Covid-19 vaccine against the British coronavirus version as it does to the previously circulating variants, the university said Friday.
The variant, first identified in Kent, the south of England, is easier to promote, prompting many countries to restrict travel to Britain. This also had a major impact on diseases that halted a new national closure in England last month.
That lockout came when Britain started rolling out the AstraZeneca vaccine. More than 10 million people have received their first dose of AstraZeneca or Pfizer.
Britain had said it believed the vaccines were effective against changes circulating in the UK.
“Data from our trials of the ChAdOx1 vaccine in the United Kingdom argue that the vaccine not only protects against the original pandemic virus, but also protects against the novel version, B.1.1.7, which has caused an increase in disease since the end of 2020 across the UK, ”said Andrew Pollard, Principal Investigator of the Oxford vaccine trial.
Sarah Gilbert, co-developer of the vaccine, said that while the vaccine had an effect against the UK variant, it may need to be modified for a variant in the future.
“We are working with AstraZeneca to maximize the pipeline required for strain change if required,” Gilbert said.
The findings, which were released in an introductory paper and not peer-reviewed, also examined recent analysis showing that vaccines with the picture leading to a reduction in peeling time and viral loads, which may translate into a smaller spread of the disease, Oxford University said.
The variant, first identified in Kent, the south of England, is easier to promote, prompting many countries to restrict travel to Britain. This also had a major impact on diseases that halted a new national closure in England last month.
That lockout came when Britain started rolling out the AstraZeneca vaccine. More than 10 million people have received their first dose of AstraZeneca or Pfizer.
Britain had said it believed the vaccines were effective against changes circulating in the UK.
“Data from our trials of the ChAdOx1 vaccine in the United Kingdom argue that the vaccine not only protects against the original pandemic virus, but also protects against the novel version, B.1.1.7, which has caused an increase in disease since the end of 2020 across the UK, ”said Andrew Pollard, Principal Investigator of the Oxford vaccine trial.
Sarah Gilbert, co-developer of the vaccine, said that while the vaccine had an effect against the UK variant, it may need to be modified for a variant in the future.
“We are working with AstraZeneca to maximize the pipeline required for strain change if required,” Gilbert said.
The findings, which were released in an introductory paper and not peer-reviewed, also examined recent analysis showing that vaccines with the picture leading to a reduction in peeling time and viral loads, which may translate into a smaller spread of the disease, Oxford University said.