Gee I wonder if South Africa might be interested in buying an effective therapuetic.....
AstraZeneca vaccine only 10% effective against variant in South Africa
Last month, South Africa halted the rollout of AstraZeneca and Oxford University’s Covid-19 vaccine after a study showed it didn’t protect against mild-to-moderate cases caused by the B.1.351 variant, which is now widespread in the country. Now we’re getting a look at the data.
While the vaccine was showing an efficacy of around 75% prior to the spread of B.1.351, a new analysis suggested the vaccine is only 10.4% effective against the variant, according to data published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The study enrolled 2,026 HIV-negative adults, about half of whom were randomized to receive the vaccine. A total of 42 came down with Covid-19, and 39 of those cases were caused by the B.1.351 variant. Overall efficacy in this group, which consisted mostly of cases linked to the variant, was just under 22%.
“What this data don’t tell us is whether or not this vaccine might still protect at least against severe Covid-19,” Shabir Madhi, chief investigator of the study, said during a briefing last month.
Two days after halting the country’s rollout of AstraZeneca and Oxford University’s Covid-19 vaccine, South Africa’s government said it was considering selling or exchanging the doses it had already received.
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