London, Dec 27: The coronavirus vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca “should be” effective against the highly transmissible new strain of the virus, a UK media report said on Sunday.
The Oxford/ AstraZeneca vaccine, which also has a tie-up with the Serum Institute of India, is expected to win approval in the UK before Thursday, speeding up the provision of the jab to the most vulnerable groups.
“The first priority is to vaccinate the 12 to 15 million people who would need hospitalisation if they caught COVID. Approval for the AstraZeneca vaccine would mean we are well on course to do that by the spring,” a senior government official was quoted by The Sunday Times as saying.
The source warned that the new strain of COVID-19 had overtaken the old and was “running rampant” in the UK.
“The latest figures are not good, but the guidance is the MHRA [the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency] will give the Oxford vaccine the go-ahead by midweek,” the source said.
AstraZeneca’s chief executive, Pascal Soriot, said that new data will show that the vaccine is as effective as the Pfizer and Moderna jabs that have already been approved, protecting 95 per cent of patients, and is “100 per cent effective” in preventing severe illness requiring hospital treatment.
He said that it “should be” effective against the new highly transmissible variant of the deadly virus, which put England under complete lockdown again after its rapid spread was detected.
In the first trials of the Oxford vaccine, it was found to be 62 per cent effective overall, though one group accidentally given a half-dose first was 90 per cent protected.
“We think we have figured out the winning formula and how to get efficacy that, after two doses, is up there with everybody else,” Soriot told the newspaper. (IANS)
