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According to the foreign media BGR,The UK approved emergency use authorization for the second new crown candidate vaccine, Oxford-AstraZeneca, which successfully passed phase 3 trials a few weeks ago.The local health department has also changed the drug’s vaccination strategy, hoping to provide the vaccine to as many people as possible as soon as possible. The second dose can be injected between 4 and 12 weeks after the first dose. Immunity to COVID-19 should begin to develop within two weeks of the first injection.
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The UK approved an emergency use authorization for the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine on Wednesday, and vaccination will begin next Monday. The country is experiencing a massive increase in cases, driven mainly by new strains discovered in recent months. The UK released record data on Tuesday and Wednesday, with more than 50,000 new cases confirmed in a single day since the start of the epidemic. As one of the leaders in the COVID-19 vaccine competition, the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine emergency use authorization is not the only vaccine news in the UK. Britain has adjusted its vaccination policy and will vaccinate people through different programs. The goal of health officials is to get as many people as possible vaccinated as soon as possible.
According to the phase 3 trial, the Oxford vaccine comes with two full dose cycles and the effectiveness is 62%. This is lower than the 95% efficacy of the BioNTech and Moderna drugs, but the Oxford vaccine can still provide protection against severe COVID-19. The Oxford vaccine is also easier to handle because it does not need to be stored at low temperatures like the other two vaccines. Phase 3 studies show that different schemes can increase the protection rate to 90%. Patients who receive half the dose first and then the full dose a few weeks later are better protected than those who receive two full doses. Since there are still some problems with this part of the study, more research is needed on this.
According to BBC News, priority groups, including nursing home residents, people over 80, and health and nursing staff, will be the first to get vaccinated. All people over 50 years of age and young adults with health problems will be included in the first stage. This will include more than 25 million people. The UK has ordered 100 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines, enough for 50 million people.
The UK expects to vaccinate some 2 million patients with one of the two vaccines approved in the country each week. More than 600,000 people have received the first dose of the BioNTech vaccine.
But the UK is also doing something different from other countries. The British Medicines and Health Products Regulation Agency (MHRA) has approved the Oxford vaccine and the second dose will be injected within 4 to 12 weeks of the first dose. Initially, it was planned to inject the second dose of the vaccine within 4 weeks after the first dose, but health officials changed this plan. The idea is to give the first dose to as many people as possible and the second dose should be given within the recommended time.
Research from Pfizer and BioNTech also shows that the immune response occurs after the first dose, but for the best protection, a second dose is needed.
BBC News also noted that unpublished data in the Oxford University trial showed that leaving a longer gap between the first and second doses will increase the overall effect. What this means is unclear and more research is needed.
Given the long suspension of trials in the United States, it is not known when the Oxford vaccine will be licensed for emergency use in the United States. Vaccine trials in the United States must recruit at least 30,000 volunteers and collect follow-up safety data for at least half of them over two months before requesting emergency use authorization approval.
Several other candidate vaccines are still in phase 3 trials, including drugs from Johnson & Johnson and Novavax.
