This is the news that many feared: the first data show that the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine can only provide “minimal protection” against mild to moderate diseases caused by the coronavirus variant first identified in South Africa.
A study published Sunday at a South African university suggested that two doses of the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine provided “substantially reduced” protection against mild to moderate Covid-19 disease from the new virus variant. identified for the first time, known as B.1.351.
South Africa said it is pausing the launch of the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine, following the publication of the study.
But that doesn’t mean governments have to dump their AstraZeneca reserves. Experts say it is possible (and very likely) that the dam will be effective in preventing serious illness and death.
However, the news could be a major obstacle to the global exit of the pandemic, which cannot be “finished” until the virus stops circulating widely.
This is because the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is cheaper and easier to transport and store than some of the other vaccines approved so far and, as such, would play a key role in the fight against the pandemic in low-income countries. and average. If the vaccine is not effective enough against the new variant, it could deepen the already huge vaccine among the richest and poorest countries in the world.
Less effective vaccines could force countries where new variants become dominant to change their vaccination strategy. Instead of trying to get the herd immunity, the focus could be on preventing as many deaths as possible, even as long as the virus continues to circulate.
And while South Africa’s data is certainly a setback to vaccination campaigns, scientists are already working on upgrades to existing vaccines to make them more effective in the face of new variants.
On Saturday, AstraZeneca said it was working with Oxford University to adapt the vaccine against variant B.1.351 and would advance it through clinical development to make it “ready for fall delivery if needed.”
Last month, Pfizer said it was “preparing the groundwork” to create a vaccine booster that could respond to coronavirus variants.
“We see it all the time with the flu vaccine,” said Dr. Julian Tang, an associate associate professor and clinical virologist at the University of Leicester. Influenza vaccines are adapted each year to target the most common virus strains. Sometimes the vaccine chosen does not match the strain that becomes prevalent.
“Matching vaccine seasons allow for more infections, morbidity and flu mortality, but to some extent this is inevitable, as the virus will always mutate first, then we will have to adjust our vaccines to match the new virus.” , Tang added.
UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Monday that the flu plan could work for the coronavirus in the future.
“The finch is updated every year according to the mutations and variations that have occurred and been detected in the previous months and that are manufactured during the summer and then delivered to the arms of the most vulnerable people in the flu in the fall, “he said.
When it comes to Covid-19, he explained that you need to think about how to protect people in a similar way.
The good news is that developing a vaccine that works against new variants doesn’t mean starting from scratch, so updates might be available soon.
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