AstraZeneca vaccine reduces coronavirus transmission by 67% after first dose

The coronavirus vaccine developed by the British from AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford reduces transmission of the virus by 67% from the first dose, according to an analysis of clinical trials published Wednesday.

The study, carried out in Oxford and which has not yet been reviewed by outside scientists before publication, points out that people who are vaccinated not only are protected against the severe symptoms of the disease, but are less likely to infect.

The vaccine can thus have a “huge impact” in terms of transmission, as he informed the BBC project manager Andrew Pollard, although he clarified that testing was done before the new variants appeared.

Against infections, the study shows an efficacy of 76% after the first dose, which is maintained for three months. Meanwhile, the efficacy rises to 82% after a second dose injected three months later.

These elements reinforce the strategy of the British government which, in order to vaccinate more people quickly, decided to postpone the second injection until 12 weeks later.

The UK, which has already vaccinated 9.6 of its 66 million people, is currently using AstraZeneca / Oxford and Pfizer / BioNTech vaccines, which Moderna will join in the spring.

“It shows the world that the Oxford vaccine is working well”, Health Minister Matt Hancock praised in statements to the BBC, after criticism from some countries like France and Germany who do not recommend it to people over 65 because of the lack of data on its effectiveness.

Boris Johnson’s government is counting on mass vaccination to be able to lift the third lockout in the country, which has already recorded more than 108,000 deaths from Covid-19, the worst record of a European country.

“Si estas vacunas reducen la transmissión en la medida indicada, significará que se podrán relajar las restricciones antes de que si tuviéramos que esperar a la immunidad colectiva”, esteemed doctor Gillies O’Bryan-Tear, ex decano of the Facultad de Medicina Farmacéutica from London. “This would be the holy grail of the global vaccine deployment,” he added.

With information from AFP