The least effective Astra Zenaca vaccine against the African variant of Covid-19

The study states the following: "A two-dose regimen of the vaccine showed no protection against mild-to-moderate Covid-19 due to the South African variant." The effectiveness against severe Covid-19, i.e. hospitalizations or deaths, has not yet been determined.

The study, conducted by the Witwatersrand University of South Africa and the University of Oxford, enrolled 2,026 patients with an average age of 31.

Half of the group received at least one dose of placebo and the other half received at least one dose of the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine.

Tulio de Oliveira, who heads the genomic surveillance network in South Africa, told the FT that the findings were a "wake-up call to control the virus and increase the response to Covid-19 around the world."

A spokesman for the University of Oxford said: “Oxford is working with AstraZeneca to optimize response to a virus conformation change should the need arise. This is the same problem that all vaccine developers face and we will continue to monitor the emergence of new variants as they stand ready for a future strain change. "

The Astra Zeneca vaccine already showed suboptimal efficacy for the over 65s, now this news is putting further doubts on this vaccine developed between Italy and the United Kingdom. Further development will be required to cover even new variants and make it effective.

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