Photographer: Gen Shkullaku / AFP / Getty Images
Photographer: Gen Shkullaku / AFP / Getty Images
The AstraZeneca Plc coronavirus vaccine did not offer much protection against mild illnesses caused by the variant that emerged in South Africa in a study that prompted the country to seek other immunizations last month.
The vaccine was only 10% effective against the variant strain, according to a study published Tuesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. There were no cases of serious illness in the group that received two injections of the vaccine or in the group that received false injections.
The study did not answer the big question the vaccine faces: whether it protected patients from serious illness and hospitalization, in part because the trial participants were young. The only serious side effect noticed – another important indicator as European countries investigate reports of blood clots – it was a high fever after the first dose.
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South Africa halted the vaccine’s launch after some preliminary data from the study was released last month. The data released on Tuesday were more detailed and its publication in a medical journal indicates that it was peer-reviewed.
The study involved about 2,000 participants who had an average age of 30 years. The elderly are generally more affected by the infection.
The vaccine prevented about 22% of all mild to moderate Covid cases. About 93% of the cases in the trial were caused by the South African variant. Determining the level of efficacy against the strain was a secondary objective of the study.