The Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine does not prevent mild and moderate cases of the South African coronavirus strain, researchers said on Sunday.
The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, which conducted the trial, said in a statement that the vaccine ‘provides minimal protection against mild Covid-19 infection’ against the variant.
But in a full report to be published Monday, AstraZeneca said none of the 2,000 participants developed severe symptoms.
This may mean that it will still have an effect on serious diseases, although there is not yet enough data to make a definite judgment.
It appears that the data, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, ‘confirm the theoretical observation that mutations in the virus seen in South Africa will allow continuous transmission of the virus in vaccinated populations’.
“Protection against moderate-to-severe illness, hospitalization or death could not be assessed in this study, as the target population was at low risk.”
But vaccine developers in Britain have said the results provide informal hope that the vaccine could prevent deaths due to the variant.
“We may not reduce the total number of cases, but there is still protection against deaths, hospitalizations and serious diseases,” said Sarah Gilbert, who led the development of the vaccine with the Oxford Vaccine Group.
It could also take a while before they determine its effectiveness for older people in combating the tension, which is a growing presence in Britain, she told BBC television.
“We may have to compile it from a number of studies,” she said.
AstraZeneca later told AFP that “we believe our vaccine will continue to protect against serious diseases.
“Neutralizing antibody activity is similar to other Covid-19 vaccines that have shown activity against serious diseases, especially if the dose interval is optimized to 8-12 weeks,” the spokesperson added.
Researchers are currently updating the vaccine, and ‘have a version with the South African peak sequence in progress’ that they ‘would very much like’ for the autumn, she added.
British vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi said the government’s strategy to combat the spread of the strain was to continue its mass vaccination program “as soon as possible” as well as “hyper-local revival tests” where it is detected.
Britain is in the midst of a massive vaccination process, which it says is the way out of one of the worst outbreaks in the world that has left more than 112,000 deaths among those who tested positive for the virus.
It has so far vaccinated more than 11 million people using the Pfizer / BioNTech or Oxford / AstraZeneca shots.
The AstraZeneca vaccine is the source of an ugly battle with the European Union, which is angry because the Anglo-Swedish firm could not achieve the delivery target agreed with Brussels.
France, Germany and Switzerland are also among the countries that recommend that the vaccine not be used in the elderly due to lack of data.
jwp / phz / dl / har