NEW DELHI: Given its low pricing and higher temperature storage, Oxford University’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate holds promise for India and is a more viable option than the Moderna, Pfizer or Sputnik V vaccines under development, say scientists while cautioning that the data presented is still preliminary.
There is plenty to be hopeful about and the Oxford AstraZeneca is a good option to begin with, but it is also important to remember the numbers are tentative and a full analysis is difficult, several scientists said on Tuesday.
On Monday, pharma major AstraZeneca announced that an interim analysis of clinical trials of its COVID-19 vaccine in the UK and Brazil showed it was 70 per cent effective on average.
The ChAdOx1 nCoV-2019 vaccine, being produced in collaboration with Oxford University, was found to be 70.4 per cent effective when combining data from two dosing regimens from Phase 3 clinical trials. However, in two different dose regimens, the vaccine’s efficacy was 90 per cent in one, and 62 per cent in the other.
“These findings show that we have an effective vaccine that will save many lives. Excitingly, we’ve found that one of our dosing regimens may be around 90 per cent effective and if this dosing regimen is used, more people could be vaccinated with planned vaccine supply,” explained Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group and chief investigator of the Oxford Vaccine Trial. (AGENCIES)
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