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Trial results suggesting that the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine might offer only minimal protection against mild and moderate doses of the “South African” Covid-19 variant “is not the news we were looking for,” says a New Zealand vaccinologist.
“But we had to be prepared, this could happen,” said Associate Professor Helen Petousis-Harris, University of Auckland. “We have to be prepared to adapt to whatever the virus throws at us.”
New Zealand ordered 7.6 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which would be enough to vaccinate 3.8 million people.
Scott Heppell / AP
A woman receives the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine in England during January.
It also has agreements to purchase enough Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine for 750,000 people, enough doses of a Novavax vaccine for 5.36 million people, and enough vaccines from Janssen Pharmaceutica for possibly up to 5 million people.
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South Africa suspended the launch of the AstraZeneca vaccine after seeing the results of a trial involving 2,000 people.
Overnight, the Covax global vaccine collaboration, which is co-led by the World Health Organization, released a statement on the AstraZeneca vaccine.
AP
A vehicle test station in Cape Town, South Africa.
It acknowledged that preliminary data from the trial showed minimal effectiveness of the AstraZeneca vaccine in preventing mild to moderate Covid-19 disease caused by the viral variant B.1.351.
But it was important to note that analysis of other data showed that in the context of viral environments without that variant, the AstraZeneca vaccine offered protection against serious illness, hospitalization and death, according to the Covax statement.
“This means that it is now critically important to determine the effectiveness of the vaccine when it comes to preventing more serious diseases caused by the B.1.351 variant.”
Despite the developments, Petousis-Harris said the AstraZeneca jab appeared to be a good vaccine, and much of the discussion about it appeared to be “a little unfounded.”
“I think preparations have already been made to be able to adapt these vaccines a bit like a flu vaccine could be adapted,” he said. “The developers are looking to modify the formulation to accommodate emerging strains that appear to be resistant to vaccine immunity.”
It was up to drug regulator Medsafe to decide whether New Zealand should take the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Last week, Medsafe granted tentative approval for the Pfizer vaccine to be used in New Zealand, making it the first Covid-19 vaccine to be cleared for use in this country.
ROB KITCHEN / THINGS
Dr. Ashley Bloomfield describes who will receive the provisionally approved Covid-19 vaccine first.
Medsafe would analyze the risk-benefit ratio and would not approve of something that did not appear to be effective, Petousis-Harris said. You would have “a lot of data” to base your decision on.
“They are going to be completely focused on evaluating it in the context of New Zealand,” he said.
The questions raised about the AstraZeneca vaccine showed why New Zealand had hedged its bets on various vaccines and had a diverse portfolio. “It is a difficult task to hope that all vaccines will be equally successful.”
The launch of the vaccine that is taking place in many countries “would make a substantial difference and quite quickly,” Petousis-Harris said. “But you need to define ‘pretty fast.’ It’s a little over a couple of weeks. “
Bram Janssen / AP
Paramedics Michael Makhethe, left, and Clive Moleso, who work for Saaberie Chishty’s ambulance service, stand outside the home of a Covid-19 patient in Lenasia, South Africa.
Latest information on the Our world in data The site shows that Israel, which began its vaccination program on December 19, is among the leaders in the group in terms of the number of vaccines administered, with 64 doses per 100 people.
The UAE is slightly ahead in terms of the proportion of the population that has received at least one dose of vaccine, at 41.1% compared to 40.2% for Israel.
Petousis-Harris said the effect of the vaccination program appeared to be manifesting itself in Israel, where a large proportion of the older population had been vaccinated.
“Certainly, experience so far holds that these vaccines are very effective. But we’ve only been around for a few weeks. “
