Dipesh Sonar and Nisha Gill talk to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson during their visit to the quality control laboratory at Oxford Biomedica, where batches of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine are tested in Oxford, Great Britain, on January 18, 2021.
Heathcliff O’Malley | Reuters
LONDON – The coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford has the same level of efficiency against the Covid variant first discovered in the UK compared to previous variants, according to new data from Friday.
The variant, known as B.1.1.7, has an exceptionally high number of mutations and is associated with more efficient and faster transmission. There is also evidence that this Covid variant may be more deadly than the original strain.
“Data from our trials with the ChAdOx1 vaccine in the UK indicate that the vaccine not only protects against the original pandemic virus, but also against the new variant, B.1.1.7, which caused the disease to increase from the end of 2020 across the UK, “Andrew Pollard, chief investigator for the Oxford vaccine trial, said in an announcement on Friday.
The results have not yet been peer-reviewed. They also describe recent analyzes showing that the AstraZeneca vaccine can reduce transmission of the disease.
Scientists first detected this Covid mutation in southeastern England in September. Since then, it has been found in at least 44 countries, including the US
In January, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that the modeled trajectory of the variant in the United States “exhibits rapid growth in early 2021, becoming the predominant variant in March.”
The vaccine from AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford proved to be 76% effective in preventing symptomatic infection for three months after a single dose, and the rate of effectiveness increased with a longer interval between the first and second doses.
Another study released on Tuesday also provided important data on whether the AstraZeneca vaccine reduces transmission of the virus, a previously unknown question and a crucial issue for lawmakers seeking to lift blocking measures that have hurt the economy. Based on weekly swabs from volunteers in the UK study, he found a 67% reduction in transmission after the first dose of the vaccine.
—Sam Meredith and Holly Ellyatt of CNBC contributed to this article.