LONDON: Developers of the Oxford-AstraZeneca The vaccine hopes to have a modified stroke to deal with South Africa coronavirus variant in the fall, the lead vaccine researcher said Sunday.
Health officials in Britain are trying to contain the spread of the variant first identified in South Africa, amid concerns that it is more contagious or resistant to existing vaccines. More than 100 cases of the South African variant have been found in the UK.
Sarah Gilbert, principal investigator for the Oxford team, told the BBC on Sunday that “we have an up-and-coming version with the South African peak sequence”.
“It looks very likely that we will have a new version ready for use in the fall,” he added.
His comments were as follows Oxford University said early data from a small study suggested that the AstraZeneca vaccine it offers only “minimal protection” against mild diseases caused by the South African variant.
The study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, involved 2,000 people, most of whom were young and healthy. The average age of the volunteers was 31 years.
“Protection against moderate-to-severe illness, hospitalization, or death could not be assessed in this study because the target population had such a low risk,” Oxford University said.
Robin Shattock, a scientist leading coronavirus vaccine research at Imperial College London, urged caution about the study’s first findings. But he said it was “worrying to some extent that we see that it is not effective against mild to moderate illnesses.”
British authorities last week went from house to house administering Covid-19 tests in eight areas where the South African variant is believed to be spread, after a handful of cases were found in people who had no contact with the country or with anyone who traveled there.
The bombing test is an attempt to suppress the variant before it spreads widely and undermines the launch of U.S. vaccination. Public health officials are concerned about the South African variant because it contains a mutation in the ear protein characteristic of the virus, which is the target of existing vaccines.
Britain has seen the deadliest coronavirus outbreak in Europe, with more than 112,000 confirmed deaths, but has embarked on a faster vaccination plan than the neighboring European Union. To date, the UK has given a first vaccine against coronavirus to some 11.5 million people.