AstraZeneca Vaccine 100% Effective Against Severe Covid-19

The coronavirus vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca provides “100 percent protection” against severe Covid disease that requires hospitalisation, CEO Pascal Soriot said Sunday.

A lack of clarity and transparency over the discrepancy in the results from earlier trials weeks ago had attracted widespread criticism after the company reported varying outcomes in the shot’s efficacy.

It initially posted an average of 70 percent effectiveness – 62 percent for those vaccinated with two full doses in large-scale trials in the United Kingdom and Brazil and then 90 percent efficacy for volunteers who received a half-dose first and then a full dose one month later.

According to the Astra boss, the company has now achieved a “winning formula” for efficacy and trials will show the vaccine is as effective as those made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, which reported 95 percent and 94.5 percent effectiveness respectively.

“We think we have figured out the winning formula and how to get efficacy that, after two doses, is up there with everybody else,” the chief executive said, adding that data on the trails would be published at “some point.” 

Also Read: Doubts Emerge Over AstraZeneca-Oxford Uni Vaccine 90% Effectiveness Claim

The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is currently being examined by the UK’s independent medicines regulator after developers submitted data to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). Reports suggest approval will be granted to roll out the shot January 4.

Huge hopes, especially from developing and poor economies, are placed in the shot because of its significant price and logistical advantages over its counterparts.

The AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, which requires two doses, is priced at approximately $3 to $4, according to the Financial Times, citing supply deals agreed through to October 7, compared to more than $20 per dose Pfizer and Moderna are charging for their jabs.

Apart from being less costly, the shots can be stored, transported, and handled at normal refrigerated conditions for at least six months, compared to the highly cold temperatures needed for Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna’s drugs.

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Grappling with a surge in cases that hit the country over the past week, which is blamed on a new variant of the virus believed to be 50 to 74 percent more contagious, the UK government has ordered 100 million doses of the Astra vaccine, with 40 million of those scheduled to be available by the end of March. 

The vaccine should be effective against the highly transmissible new strain of the virus, a UK media report said on Sunday, cited by Business Standard.

AstraZeneca plans to manufacture 200 million doses of the vaccine before the end of the year and more than 700 million globally by the end of March next year.

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