LONDON (AP) – Developers of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine expect to have a modified injection to treat the South African coronavirus version before harvest, the vaccine’s chief investigator said Sunday.
Health officials in Britain are trying to take into account the spread of the variant first identified in South Africa amid concerns that it is more contagious or more stable than existing vaccines. More than 100 cases of South African discrimination have been detected in the UK
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Sarah Gilbert, lead researcher for the Oxford team, told the BBC on Sunday that “we have a version with a South African spike series in the works. ”
“It looks very likely that we can use a new ready-made version in the autumn,” she said.
Her comments came when Oxford University said early data from a small study suggested that the AstraZeneca vaccine offers “very little protection” against a mild disease caused by the South African variety.
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The study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, included 2,000 people, mostly young and healthy. The average age of volunteers was 31.
“Protection against moderate-to-severe illness, hospitalization, or death could not be assessed in this study because the target population was at such a low risk,” said Oxford University.
Robin Shattock, a scientist in charge of the coronavirus vaccine study at Imperial College London, urged caution against the early findings of the study. But he said it was “somewhat worrying that we see it ineffective against mild or moderate disease. ”
Authorities in England last week went to a test house to administer COVID-19 administration in eight areas where the South African variant is believed to be spreading, after a dozen cases be found in people who had no connection to the country or anyone I traveled there.
A test blitz is an attempt to remove the variant before it spreads widely and weakens the spread of the UK vaccine. Public health officials are concerned about the South African variant with a mutation of the normal spike protein of the virus, which is targeted by the existing vaccines.
Britain has witnessed the deadliest coronavirus outbreak in Europe, with more than 112,000 deaths confirmed, but they have embarked on a vaccination plan sooner than the nearby European Union. To date the UK has delivered the first coronavirus vaccine injection to around 11.5 million people.