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South Africa has temporarily suspended use of a coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford after preliminary results showed the vaccine had little impact in reducing mild illness to moderate due to a variant strain.
South Africa’s Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize’s announcement on Sunday followed shortly after the country received 1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which was due to be rolled out this week.
The researchers studied the effectiveness of the vaccine given the resurgence of cases due to a more transmissible and possibly more virulent variant called B.1.351.
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The results come from a phase 2 trial with 2,000 healthy participants between the ages of 18 and 65. The volunteers received two doses of the vaccine or a placebo. Professor Shabir Madhi of the University of the Witwatersrand ultimately suggested that the vaccine did not protect against mild to moderate COVID-19. However, scientists still hope that the vaccine can offer protection against severe disease developments.
Madhi said that before the emergence of the variant, the vaccine showed “huge potential” to reduce mild to moderate illness with about 75% effectiveness, until the end of October.
The results show that variant cases later appeared in 19 of the 748 participants vaccinated, and 20 cases occurred in 714 participants who received the placebo, suggesting that the vaccine was not effective in protecting against mild to moderate illness. These results translate into a vaccine efficacy of 10.4%, although this figure may fluctuate with larger trial size.
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A spokesperson for AstraZeneca told Fox News that the study could not determine the vaccine’s effectiveness among severe cases given the design of its trial, as the researchers also noted.
“This was a small study focusing primarily on healthy young adults (average 31 years old), where severe disease is not predominant,” reads the AstraZeneca emailed statement. . “No serious illness or hospitalization was observed in vaccine or control participants. We believe that our vaccine will protect against serious diseases caused by the new variant B.1.351, because the activity of neutralizing antibodies is equivalent to that seen with other COVID-19 vaccines that have demonstrated activity against more serious diseases, and especially when the dosing interval is optimized to 8-12 weeks. We are working closely with the South African Department of Health on how best to support the evaluation of the COVID-19 AstraZeneca vaccine against severe B.1.351 disease, and how to bring this vaccine to the people of South Africa. “
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Mkhize called the results “disappointing” as the country was ready to roll out the vaccines, but said health workers would instead receive vaccines developed by Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer. The health minister said scientists were determining the best approach for AstraZeneca vaccines and would come back with a proposal.
Johnson & Johnson recently announced that its single-injection coronavirus vaccine was 66% effective in preventing moderate to severe COVID-19 in a global trial, and 57% effective in South Africa 28 days after vaccination. Initial results suggest that Pfizer’s vaccine will remain effective against the variant, although the company is working on a booster variant to better protect against the strains.
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