Results have shown that the Covid-19 vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford only has 70% effectiveness.
While 70% effectiveness against Covid-19 is a good result for the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine, it may be seen as a disappointment compared with the 95% protection offered by vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna.
Less effective but more accessible
While vaccines by Pfizer and Moderna both have higher effectiveness than the Oxford AstraZeneca Covid-19 drug, it is actually far less costly as well as easier to store and distribute worldwide compared with the other two.
If approved by regulators, the vaccine will still have an important part in battling the current pandemic. Furthermore, data suggests that if the dosage would be perfected, it could increase its effectiveness to about 90%.
The British government has pre-ordered 100 million doses of the Oxford vaccine, which can be administered to 50 million people.
In response to the results, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: "Incredibly exciting news the Oxford vaccine has proved so effective in trials. There are still further safety checks ahead, but these are fantastic results."
The Oxford vaccine took around 10 months to develop, a process that usually takes around 10 years. The study involved over 20,000 volunteers, half of which came from the UK while the remaining were from Brazil.
It is a genetically modified common cold virus that used to infect chimpanzees and has been altered to prevent it from causing an infection in people and to carry the blueprints for part of the coronavirus, known as the spike protein.
Vaccine test results
A few days ago, Oxford and AstraZeneca released preliminary results showing a robust immune response among adults. Published in The Lancet, the preliminary findings of a peer-reviewed phase two trial were based on 560 healthy adults, including 240 over the age of 70-years-old.
Results showed that the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine is safe and produced a similar immune response among people aged over 56-years-old and those aged between 18 and 55.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that older people face a “significant risk” of having severe illness on contracting the virus. The agency mentions decreased immune function and underlying health conditions. However, people of all ages remain at risk of getting the virus.
Updated results found 30 cases of Covid-19 in people who had two doses of the vaccine and 101 cases in people who received a dummy injection. According to the researchers, te vaccine works out at 70% protection.
The researchers discovered that two "high" doses were given to volunteers, the protection was 62% but it goes up to 90% when people were given a "low" dose followed by a high one.
The vaccine's architect Prof. Sarah Gilbert said: "The announcement today takes us another step closer to the time when we can use vaccines to bring an end to the devastation caused by [the virus]."
Meanwhile, Prof. Andrew Pollard, the trial's lead investigator, said: "We're really pleased with these results." Pollard pointed out that the data on possibly increasing effectiveness to 90% was "intriguing" and would mean "we would have a lot more doses to distribute."
He also mentioned that there were also lower levels of asymptomatic infection in the low followed by high dose group which "means we might be able to halt the virus in its tracks."
