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The pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca has announced up to 90% efficacy for its COVID vaccine. This is shown in the results of recent clinical trials, Reuters reported.
The AstraZeneca vaccine was developed in collaboration with the University of Oxford and was 90% effective when administered as a half dose, followed by a full dose in one month.
In another dosing method, the vaccine was 62% effective – two full doses administered at least one month apart.
The average efficiency of both methods is approximately 70%.
There are no reports of serious side effects with either method of administration, meaning that the vaccine is well tolerated in both cases.
The study is based on 131 cases of coronavirus in an interim analysis.
Vaccination in the United States and Germany begins in December
Meanwhile, US health officials said they hope to begin large-scale vaccination against the coronavirus in early December.
About 70% of the US population, with a population of 330 million, will need to be vaccinated to achieve “herd immunity” in May.
The Food and Drug Administration will approve in mid-December the launch of the largest immunization campaign in the country’s history. The vaccine to be used is manufactured by the pharmaceutical company Pfizer Inc and its German partner BioNTech.
The meeting to review the documents and start the mass vaccination process will be held on December 10.
Pharmaceutical company Moderna Inc will also await separate approval for its COVID-19 vaccine.
Germany has announced that it may start a vaccination program next month.
A few days ago, Pfizer announced that its vaccine was 95% effective. The results were presented after completing the clinical trials of the last third phase of the COVID-19 vaccine.
UK approves use of coronavirus vaccine this week
The COVID vaccine, developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, can be approved this week for use in the UK.
British regulators may allow this even before the vaccine is approved for use in the United States.
The UK has ordered 40 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine and expects to receive 10 million doses by the end of the year.
The National Health Service was warned to prepare for the December 1 vaccine.
Spain has launched a mass vaccination program
The country’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, announced that a general vaccination program against COVID-19 would be launched in January.
