LONDON: Britain on Wednesday seized on a new study that said the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid vaccine significantly reduces virus transmission and is highly protective after a single dose, after stinging criticism about its effectiveness from EU leaders.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the research, which has yet to be peer-reviewed, vindicated its massive vaccination drive, which has so far seen some 10 million people receive a jab.
“It does show the world that the Oxford jab works, it works well,” he told BBC radio. “It slows transmission by around two-thirds, so it categorically supports the strategy that we’re undertaking.”
The European Medicines Agency has recommended the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab for adults of all ages last week — more than a month after independent regulators in the UK gave it the green light.
But several countries have advised against administering it to older people.
Germany said it will not advise over 65s to get it while Italy’s medicines agency recommended alternatives for people aged over 55. President Emmanuel Macron claimed the vaccine was “quasi-ineffective” for the over-65s.
But the vaccine developers refuted his claim, saying the uncertainty was driven by a lack of data in older age groups rather than any evidence that it did not work.
“From an immunological perspective, the older adults seem to respond in a very similar way to younger adults,” Mene Pangalos, AstraZeneca’s Executive Vice-President of biopharmaceuticals research and development, told a webinar on Wednesday.
More data on older people should be available within weeks with the completion of a US trial and early results from Britain’s vaccination drive, added Andrew Pollard, Director of the Oxford Vaccine Group.
DOSING SCHEDULE
The study by Oxford University found that those who had been vaccinated with a single dose were 67 per cent less likely to test positive with a PCR test, “suggesting the potential for a substantial reduction in transmission”.
It also provided backing for the UK’s strategy of administering as many first doses of vaccine to high-risk groups as possible and allowing a 12-week interval before the second dose, which has been criticised by some experts.
The other vaccine already being rolled out in the UK, the Pfizer/BioNTech jab, was designed to be administered with a shorter interval. — AFP
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