The controversy around the vaccine from AstraZeneca does not seem to be ending very soon, as more and more details about the famous vaccine are unfolding.
Analyzing AstraZeneca efficiency in covid variant
It’s been just revealed that two doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford University COVID-19 vaccine were ineffective against mild-to-moderate infections with the B1351 variant first identified in South Africa, according to a phase 1b-2 clinical trial published just recently in the New England Journal of Medicine.
According to the reports, it seems that the study led by scientists at the South African Medical Research Council Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit has been analyzing the safety and the efficacy of the AstraZeneca ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine in HIV-negative adults.
More than that, the individuals were aged 18 to 64, and they received either two standard doses of the vaccine or a placebo in a 1:1 ratio 21 to 35 days apart from Jun 24 to Nov 9, 2020. Median follow-up after the second dose was 121 days.
Test results
“In this trial, we found that two doses of the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine had no efficacy against the B.1.351 variant in preventing mild-to-moderate COVID-19,” the authors of the study wrote.
They continued and said: “The lack of efficacy against the B.1.351 variant should be considered in the context of the 75% efficacy (95% CI, 8.7 to 95.5) in preventing mild-to-moderate COVID-19 with onset at least 14 days after even a single dose of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine that was observed before the B.1.351 variant emerged in South Africa.”
It’s been also reported that these days, there are also second-gen vaccines in development.
AstraZeneca in the news
As you probably know by now, the vaccine has been under a lot of scrutinies these days after more European countries dropped it due to health risks. Something that a lot of people found inappropriate is that WHO urges countries to continue vaccination, although they are meeting to discuss the safety issues today.
Also, check out the news that Dr Anthony Fauci dropped the other day about the pandemic.
