- AstraZeneca’s CEO, Pascal Soriot, says his company’s COVID-19 vaccine “must remain effective” against mutant virus strains, reports The Sunday Times.
- “But we can’t be sure, so let’s try this out,” Soriot told the newspaper.
- A new strain of virus discovered in the UK could be up to 70% more transmissible, according to Reuters.
- At least 7 people in Japan tested positive for the new variant, reports The Associated Press.
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The AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine is expected to be effective against mutant strains of COVID-19, including those discovered in the UK and South Africa.
“So far, we think the vaccine should remain effective,” said CEO Pascal Soriot to The Sunday Times.
“But we can’t be sure, so let’s test it,” he told the newspaper.
Pascal Soriot, CEO of AstraZeneca, London in 2014.
Neil Hall / Reuters
As vials of the vaccine circulated around the world last week, news of mutant coronavirus variants also spread.
The first variant, discovered in the UK, had 23 documented changes. It could be about 70% more transmissible and had already infected around 40,000 people in the UK in the middle of the week, according to Reuters. The second variant was first found in South Africa, but arrived in the UK last week, according to health officials.
“This new variant is highly worrying because it is even more transmissible and appears to have undergone more mutation than the new variant that was discovered in the United Kingdom,” said Matt Hancock, British health secretary, on Wednesday.
As the strains spread, other countries closed their doors to visitors from the United Kingdom.
The new strain was discovered in Japan on Friday, brought by UK travelers, according to Reuters. About seven people, including five who traveled from the UK to Japan, tested positive, the Associated Press reported on Sunday.
On Monday, Japan plans a radical ban on foreigners from entering the country, in part because of the new strains, according to The Associated Press.
In saying that the AstraZeneca vaccine will protect against strains of the coronavirus, Soriot echoed Ugur Sahin, CEO of BioNTech. There was a “relatively high” possibility that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine would work against the variants, Sahin said last week.
The UK government has signed agreements for 100 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which was developed in partnership with the University of Oxford. This vaccine is the largest single order from the government, which has closed deals for 357 million doses of various vaccines.
On Christmas Eve, about 617,000 people in the UK had received doses of the Pfizer vaccine, according to official statistics.
The UK government is now reviewing AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines.
“The NHS across the UK is working incredibly hard to expand the vaccination program as quickly as possible to ensure that everyone on the priority list can get their vaccine easily,” said Nadhim Zahawi, minister who oversees vaccine implantation, in an announcement.