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The chief pharmacist behind the Oxford vaccine says researchers have found a “winning formula” to improve the effectiveness of the jab.
Trials of the vaccine, developed by the university in conjunction with AstraZeneca, showed a 90% efficacy rate when people were given a half dose followed by a full dose at least one month later.
When two full doses were given at least one month apart, the vaccine was 62% effective, meaning that when all results were taken into account, the overall efficacy was 70%.
the Pfizer and Modern The vaccines were shown to be 95% and 94.5% effective, respectively.
But Pascal Soriot, CEO of AstraZeneca, told the Sunday Times: “We think we have discovered the winning formula and how to get an efficacy that, after two doses, is on par with all the others.”
“I can’t tell you more because we will publish at some point.”
Such an improvement would be a relief to the government, which ordered 100 million doses of the vaccine, with about 40 million expected to be available by the end of March.
Soriot said that the previous results had been considered by the pharmaceutical company as “positive”, adding: “They meet the criteria established by regulators around the world.
“We assume people would be a little disappointed, that’s for sure, but we weren’t expecting that storm.”
His words come amid reports that the vaccine could be approved next week, following the approval of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine in the first week of December.
According to the Sunday Telegraph, distribution of the Oxford vaccine could begin on January 4 and the government expects more than two million people to receive their first dose in the first two weeks.
In response to the report, the government said that the MHRA (Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Agency) should have time to review the vaccine data.
“The drug regulator is reviewing the final data from the Oxford University / AstraZeneca phase three clinical trials to determine whether the vaccine meets its strict standards for quality, safety and efficacy,” he said.
“Now we must give the MHRA time to carry out its important work and we must await their advice.”
It comes as the concern for spread of a new variant of the virus, which was first detected in the UK and appears to be more easily transmittable than the original version.
It also comes as many parts of the UK moved to stricter restrictions designed to limit the spread of the virus.
Meanwhile, the Sunday Mirror reported that hundreds of general practitioner and hospital surgeries were still waiting to receive doses of the Pfizer vaccine and that some appointments to vaccinate vulnerable people had been canceled due to delays.
The Sunday People reported that people in 12,000 nursing homes were missing the jab, despite being at the top of the priority list.
Nadra Ahmed, president of the National Care Association, told the Sunday Mirror that the implementation of Pfizer / BioNTech was going to be “difficult” but added: “It is another case of massive overpromise of something that just cannot be delivered. It is constant. . “
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And Labor Party shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth urged the government to avoid what he said were “the same mistakes again” by being “too slow” to protect nursing home residents, a veiled reference. to PPE and hospital discharges.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak praised the vaccination efforts so far, telling the Mail on Sunday: “There will be difficult days and months ahead, but there are reasons to look to a brighter future and what 2021 holds.
“The early launch of vaccines, and the incredible work of our scientists and the NHS, means that we can now see the light at the end of the tunnel with this pandemic.”
