Further analysis of trial data for the COVID-19 vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca appears to boost the UK’s plan to extend the dose interval to 12 weeks, enabling the country to set to give the initial application. shot at more people. The UK’s decision is at the heart of a wider debate on whether governments should prioritize partially vaccinating a larger percentage of the population or saving second doses and giving fewer people full protection.
The latest update of the study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, suggests that the vaccine is 76 percent effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 infections up to three months after a single dose. The level of immunity seems to kick in a little over three weeks after the initial shot, with little evidence that protection decreases in the intervening period. The figure then rises to 82 percent after the second dose.
Swabs taken weekly from volunteers in the UK (the study also included participants in Brazil and South Africa) also showed a 67 percent decrease in positive PCR tests. infections, although further study at the front is needed. Read more at BBC and Bloomberg.
More stories from theweek.com
Manchin will support Democrats’ reconciliation bill so COVID relief can continue without GOP
Meatballs, f-bombs, conspiracies of vote fraud: A Trump Oval Office meeting, so insane, Giuliani was ‘the voice of reason’
Jeff Bezos retires as Amazon CEO
Originally published