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This is the news many dreaded: Early data shows the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine can only provide “minimal protection” against mild to moderate illnesses caused by the variant coronavirus first identified in South Africa.
A study published on Sunday by a South African university suggested that two doses of the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine provided ‘dramatically reduced’ protection against mild to moderate Covid-19 disease of the new virus variant first identified there , known as B.1.351.
South Africa has said it is suspending its rollout of the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine, following the publication of the study.
But that doesn’t mean governments should throw away their AstraZeneca stocks. Experts say it’s possible – and very likely – that the vaccine will still be effective in preventing serious illness and death.
The news could, however, constitute a major obstacle to exiting the world from the pandemic, which cannot “ stop ” as long as the virus continues to circulate widely.
This is because the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is cheaper and easier to transport and store than some of the other vaccines approved to date and, as such, would play a key role in the fight against the pandemic in income countries. low and intermediate. If the vaccine is not effective enough against the new variant, it could widen the already huge vaccination gap between the richest and poorest countries in the world.
Less effective vaccines could force countries where new variants are becoming dominant to change their vaccination strategies. Instead of trying to achieve herd immunity, the focus could be on preventing as many deaths as possible, even if the virus continues to circulate.
And while data from South Africa is undoubtedly a setback for vaccination campaigns, scientists are already working on updates to existing vaccines to make them more effective against new variants.
On Saturday, AstraZeneca said it was working with the University of Oxford to adapt the vaccine against the B.1.351 variant and that it would advance it in clinical development to make it “ready for fall delivery in case of need “.
Last month, Pfizer said it was “laying the groundwork” to create a vaccine booster that could respond to variants of the coronavirus.
“We see this all the time with the flu vaccine,” said Dr Julian Tang, honorary associate professor and clinical virologist at the University of Leicester. The influenza vaccines are adapted each year to target the viral strains that circulate the most. Sometimes the vaccine chosen does not match the strain that is becoming common.
“Inappropriate vaccination seasons allow more influenza infections, morbidity and mortality – but to some extent this is inevitable because the virus always mutates first – then we will have to adjust our vaccines to match the new virus. “Tang added. .
British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Monday that the influenza master plan could work for the coronavirus in the future.
“The jab is updated every year based on mutations and variations that have occurred and have been spotted in the previous months, and which is made over the summer and then put back into the arms of those who are more vulnerable to the flu in the fall., “he said.
Regarding Covid-19, he explained that we need to think about how to protect people in the same way.
The good news is that developing a vaccine that would work against the new variants doesn’t mean starting from scratch, so updates may be available soon.
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