Pfizer and AstraZeneca Vaccines Effective Against A New Strain

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  • The Pfizer and AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccines are highly effective against the variant identified in India after two doses, a study has found.
  • Two jabs of either vaccine give a similar level of protection against symptomatic disease from the Indian variant as they do for the Kent one.
  • However, both vaccines were only 33% effective against the Indian variant three weeks after the first dose.
  • This compared with 50% effectiveness against the Kent variant.

A recent news article published in the BBC by Dulcie Lee & Alex Kleiderman reveals that Pfizer and AstraZeneca jabs effective against Indian variant.

A study by Public Health England

Public Health England, which ran the study, said the vaccines are likely to be even more effective at preventing hospital admission and deaths.

The Moderna vaccine has also been used in the UK since April but the study said the numbers who had received it were too small for them to include it in their research.

What does the study report?

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the findings made him “increasingly confident” the final stage of easing restrictions in England could take place on 21 June.

The data showed getting both doses of the vaccine was “absolutely vital”, he added.

Questioned about criticism

Questioned about criticism of the timing of putting India on the travel red list, the home secretary said ministers “work with the data… and that information was presented… in the right way for the decisions to be made”.

Ms Patel also defended the controls at UK borders – highlighting the pre-arrival testing requirements and saying a “vigorous system” for making sure people arriving from red list countries were quarantining was in place.

A further five people in the UK have died within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test, and another 2,235 people have tested positive, Sunday’s official figures showed.

More than 60 million vaccine doses have now been given, with 37,943,681 first doses administered and 22,643,417 second doses.

Real world evidence

The Pfizer vaccine was found to be 88% effective at stopping symptomatic disease from the Indian variant two weeks after the second dose, compared with 93% effectiveness against the Kent variant.

The AstraZeneca jab was 60% effective against the Indian variant, compared with 66% against the Kent variant.

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Source: BBC