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Pharmacist Bhaveen Patel administers a dose of the coveted Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine to Joshua Labor at a coronavirus vaccination clinic held at Junction Pharmacy in Brixton, London, Thursday, January 28, 2021.
AP
Britain’s head of health says a new study showing that a single dose of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca provides a high level of protection for 12 weeks supports the government’s strategy of postponing the second injection so that more doses can be given to more people.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock’s comments came after Oxford released a study showing that the vaccine reduced virus transmission by two-thirds and prevented serious illnesses. The study has not yet been peer-reviewed, but it was enthusiastically received by UK authorities under pressure to justify its decision to postpone the second dose.
“This reduction in transmission, as well as the fact that there are no hospitalizations, the combination of this is very good news. And it categorically supports the strategy we have adopted to have a 12-week interval between doses, ”Hancock told Sky News on Wednesday.
One of the lead researchers on the project, Dr. Andrew Pollard, from the University of Oxford, said that Oxford scientists believe the vaccine will continue to offer protection against new variants of COVID-19, although data are still awaiting.
Even if the virus adapts, “it does not mean that we will not have protection against serious diseases”.
“If we need to update the vaccines, then it is actually a relatively simple process that takes just a matter of months, instead of the huge efforts that everyone made last year to get the large-scale tests to run,” he told the BBC.