"Oxford University's 'vaccine for the world' is effective", announced Oxford University based in England, UK.
Cristian Carlos. Peninsula 360 Press [P360].
Oxford University and AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals released results of the vaccine in development ChAdOx1 nCoV-2019 that fights COVID-19 with 70 percent average efficacy, compared to 94.5 percent and 95 percent shown by Moderna and AstraZeneca Laboratories. Pfizer respectivelyHowever, they point out, this may be the fastest vaccine candidate to distribute because of simpler storage, duplication and distribution requirements.
No effort against COVID-19 should be underestimated, especially when it is a vaccine that fights the new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus which, so far, has left 1,386,596 unfortunate deaths in the world; the U.S. being the country with the highest number of confirmed cases per day, reporting 171,980 this Sunday alone.
To arrive at the 70.4 percent effectiveness, Oxford University says:
To obtain such efficacy, two different dosing regimens were averaged, where vaccine efficacy was 90 percent in one and 62 percent in the other. The group with the highest efficacy, 90%, used a halved first dose and a regular second dose. Analysis of the results indicated that this vaccine could reduce transmission of the virus from an asymptomatic patient carrying SARS-CoV-2.
Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group and chief investigator of the Oxford Vaccine Trial, said
"These findings show that - in Oxford - we have an effective vaccine that will save many lives. With great excitement, we discovered that the vaccine, in one of our trials in the doses administered, can be up to 90% effective, if this vaccine delivery regimen is carried out, more people could have access to the vaccine through distribution," Pollar said, adding that "today's announcement is only possible because of the many volunteers in this trial, and the strong and talented team of researchers deployed around the world".
No cases were reported whose side effects required hospitalization. The sampling required 24,000 volunteers who were chosen since April in the United Kingdom, Brazil and South Africa.
For the University of Oxford, it is important that "it can be easily administered in existing health systems", so this vaccine can be stored at between 2ºC and 8ºC - 35.6ºF and 46.4ºF - and distributed in a manner similar to that of some types of insulin.
Currently, Oxford noted, it is under development in 10 countries for large-scale production.
