:strip_icc()/s02.video.glbimg.com/x720/9043761.jpg)
[ad_1]
In counterpart, the efficacy of two full doses was lower, 62%.
To get the results, The researchers analyzed data from 11,636 vaccinated people. Of these, 8,895 received the two full doses and 2,741 received half the dose followed by a full dose.
Scientist Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group and who is leading the studies, says the reason for this remains “intriguing” to researchers.
“That 90% is an intriguing result. I think it’s a really exciting and intriguing result that we need to dig into,” Pollard said in an interview with the BBC.
- Oxford vaccine: With an efficacy of up to 90%, the immunizer has advantages of low cost, storage and production.
Other UK scientists, who were not involved in the studies, also relayed the results of the vaccine.
“These results are intriguing, with two different estimates of effectiveness, depending on the dose used with the vaccine,” said Michael Head, principal investigator in global health at the University of Southampton, England.
“It is still not entirely clear why half a dose and a full dose were potentially more protective, but if the final results continue to show this pattern of around 90% effectiveness, it would allow for increased vaccine delivery not only in the UK, but also around the world, ”he said.
Head emphasized that the results are still provisional and have not been reviewed by other scientists – necessary step for publication in a scientific journal.
“These are interim results that have not been peer-reviewed and the study is ongoing, so as with the other recent announcements from Pfizer and Moderna, we should be a bit cautious with these findings,” he said.
Peter Horby, an Oxford professor of emerging infectious diseases and global health, noted that as new results come in, scientists will have a better idea of the protection the vaccine provides.
“The reported 70% effectiveness is a stopgap measure, and the more data that accumulates, the better we get a sense of the protection it offers,” he said.
The vaccine developers calculated a 70.4% average efficacy of the immunizer, considering test data with a half dose and a full dose and with 2 full doses.
“It is important to note that, from what we hear, the vaccine appears to prevent infection, not just disease. This is important because the vaccine can reduce the spread of the virus, as well as protect the vulnerable from serious illness, “Horby said.
The effectiveness of the vaccine, however, seemed disappointing to some: AstraZeneca shares, a pharmaceutical company developing the immunizer in partnership with Oxford, fell 1.8% after the announcement of the effectiveness, which was behind competitors Pfizer and Moderna (see details below).
In the opinion of researcher Danny Altmann, professor of immunology at Imperial College London, it is “crazy” to criticize any of the three vaccines – from Pfizer, Moderna and Oxford – based on “bits of phase 3 data from press releases” . .
“For the big picture, my suspicion is that when we get there in a year, we will use all three vaccines with about 90% protection, and we will be much happier,” Altmann said.
One advantage of the Oxford vaccine cited by scientists is that it can be kept under normal refrigeration conditions (between 2 ° C and 8 ° C) for at least 6 months.
It is an advantage over the Pfizer candidate, which must be stored at -70ºC during transport, and Moderna, which must be kept at -20ºC.
“Oxford vaccine can be stored in the refrigerator, as opposed to the freezer, like the other two vaccines, which means that it is a more practical solution for use around the world,” Horby said.
How do vaccines work?
In recent weeks, labs such as Pfizer, Moderna and the Gamaleya Institute in Russia have published initial phase 3 results on the effectiveness rate of their vaccines still in development. None have yet published a scientific study with the data.
The efficacy rate represents the proportion of reduction in cases among the vaccinated group compared to the unvaccinated group.
In practice, if a vaccine is 90% effective, it means that 90% of the people who receive the vaccine are protected against that disease.
Initial data released by the companies pointed to the following efficacy rates for their vaccines in development. The indices can still change:
The FDA, the US regulatory agency equivalent to Anvisa in Brazil, has already announced that any vaccine must demonstrate 50% effectiveness before being released in the United States.
