THE HEAD OF British drug manufacturer Astrazeneca said today that further research was needed on its Covid-19 vaccine after questions emerged over the protection it could offer.

“Now that we’ve found what looks like a better efficacy we have to validate this, so we need to do an additional study,” chief executive Pascal Soriot told Bloomberg in an interview.

This research is likely to encompass an additional global trial, meaning it may take longer for the vaccine to be approved. Soriot, however, said he remained hopeful the vaccine could be cleared by authorities in the US and Europe before the end of the year.

On Monday, the company and its partners Oxford University said their vaccine can prevent 70.4% of people from getting the virus.

One of the dosing patterns used by the scientists suggested 90% effectiveness if one half dose is given followed by a further full dose.

Another dosing pattern showed 62% efficacy when one full dose is given followed by another full dose. The combined analysis from both dosing regimes resulted in an average efficacy of 70.4%.

Vaccine trial results recently announced by Pfizer and Moderna suggest the vaccines they are developing are around 95% effective.

More to follow…

© – AFP, 2020