RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Preliminary data from a study conducted at the University of Oxford indicate that the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca PLC is effective against the P1, or Brazilian, variant, a source with knowledge of the study said on Friday. .
The data indicate that the vaccine will not need to be modified to protect against the variant, which is believed to have originated in the Amazonian city of Manaus, said the source, who requested anonymity because the results have not yet been released.
The source did not provide the exact efficacy of the vaccine against the variant. They said the full results of the study are due to be released soon, possibly in March.
Early results indicated that the AstraZeneca vaccine was less effective against the South African variant, which is similar to P1. South Africa subsequently stopped using the vaccine in the country.
The information comes as a small sample study suggested that the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Sinovac in China may not work effectively against the Brazilian variant.
In response to a request for comment, Fiocruz, which sent the samples on which the study was based, told Reuters it had no information about the study, which was being conducted by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford.
Representatives from AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Brazil currently faces a second brutal and long-lasting wave of coronavirus, reaching a daily record of 1,910 deaths on Wednesday.
The P1 variant is among the factors that epidemiologists believe is contributing to an increase in cases and deaths, and there has been concern in the scientific community about the variant’s resistance to vaccines.
Reporting by Rodrigo Viga Gaier; Written by Gram Slattery; Editing by Hugh Lawson