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A dose of good luck paves the way for AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford to submit their COVID-19 vaccine immediately for approval.
As the British pharmacist announced on Monday, the effectiveness of the vaccine can reach 90% when the first of the two doses is administered in half.
“The half-dose ratio is a happy occasion,” AstraZeneca, head of non-cancer research and development, told Reuters. Menelaos Pangalos and explains:
Sometime in late April when Astra began working with Oxford, university researchers administered doses to volunteers participating in trials in Britain.
They quickly noticed that side effects like exhaustion, headaches or pain in the upper extremities were milder than expected.
“So we checked again what had happened and found that the vaccine dose had been accidentally administered in half.
The company decided to continue the program in part of the volunteers with the first semester, delivery.
The result is what has been known since the morning:
In the large group of volunteers, that is, those who received two equivalent doses, the efficacy rate of the vaccine was measured at 62%.
In contrast, in the group that received the first half of the dose and then the full dose, the efficacy of the vaccine was measured at 90%.
These two percentages result, on average, 70% of the total efficiency.
In a statement, Professor Andrew Pollard, its director Vaccine group of Oxford and head of the study, said:
“The findings show that we have an effective vaccine, which it will save several lives. Interestingly, one of our dosing regimens can be up to 90% effective, and if used, even more people can be vaccinated with the production already planned.
“Today’s announcement was made possible by the many volunteers in our study, but also by the hard work and talents of researchers around the world.”
For his part, AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Sorio said:
“The efficacy and safety of the vaccine confirm that it will be very effective against covid and that it will have a direct impact on this health crisis.”
In addition, AstraZeneca said in a statement that its vaccine was “very effective” in preventing COVID-19 and that none of those examined had severe symptoms or needed treatment.
Source: Reuters, BBC
