Filenews 5 February 2021
The Covid-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University in collaboration with AstraZeneca is also effective against the British strain of coronavirus that is spreading at high speed, the university announced.
A study that has not yet been tested but presented as pre-published shows that the vaccine prevents 75% of symptomatic infections from the British strain B.1.1.7., also known as the Kent variant, compared to 84% in the case of the original pandemic strain.
The same study also shows that, even in the event of infection vaccination reduces the viral load and the length of time during which copies of the virus are released, an indication that the vaccine is slowing down the epidemic.
The university also assured that it is working with AstraZeneca to modify the vaccine if necessary due to the occurrence of other variants of the virus.
The study was based on molecular tests carried out on samples given each week by a subgroup of volunteers in the clinical study of the vaccine. Hundreds of samples were examined between 1 October and 14 January in Britain, during which the Kent variant had begun to spread in the country.
In another development, a British vaccination campaign official told Reuters that AstraZeneca has provided regulators with additional data indicating that the vaccine is effective in people over 65.
The age group over 65 was underrepresented in clinical trials, which led some countries to approve the use of the vaccine only in younger people.
On Friday it became known that by unanimous decision of the Greek Vaccination Committee the AstraZeneca vaccine will be given to citizens up to 64 years of age.
Greece will receive 410,000 doses of the vaccine on February 8th and vaccination will begin on the 12th.
Source: news.in.gr
