Covishield trials show 90% efficacy

https://ift.tt/3nUs9Ij

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 23

Announcing a major breakthrough in the global fight against Covid-19, Oxford University and AstraZeneca today said their vaccine candidate Covishield was 90 per cent effective in combating the disease when administered as a halved first dose and a standard second dose after a month.

Edit: Mask as metaphor

About oxford vaccine

• Oxford vaccine ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 is made from a virus
• Is a weakened version of adenovirus, a common cold virus
• Genetically altered so that it's impossible for it to grow in humans

'Delighted with results'

I'm delighted to hear that Covishield will offer up to 90% protection in one type of dosage regime and 62% in the other. - Adar Poonawalla, Serum Institute CEO

PM review meet today

PM Narendra Modi will on Tuesday review the situation in worst-hit Rajasthan, Delhi, Haryana, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Chattisgarh, West Bengal and Kerala.

The developers made another major claim based on interim results from late-stage phase-3 trials on 24,000 participants across the UK, Brazil and South Africa, saying "early indication is that the vaccine could reduce virus transmission from an observed reduction in asymptomatic infections."

This is the first time any global Covid vaccine developer has said trials were helpful in preventing not only the disease, but also its transmission. The developers said they aimed to supply three billion doses globally during 2021. The announcement bodes well for India where phase-3 trials of the Oxford vaccine are underway, so is the production.

Adar Poonawalla, CEO of Serum Institute of India, manufacturing partner in the global collaboration, said, "I am delighted to hear that Covishield, a low-cost, logistically manageable and soon to be widely available Covid-19 vaccine, will offer up to 90 per cent protection in one type of dosage regime and 62 per cent in the other dosage regime."

The preliminary data shows the vaccine is 70.4 per cent effective when combining data from two dosing regimens (90 per cent effective if administered at a half dose and then at a full dose and 62 per cent effective if administered in two full doses). There were no hospitalisations or severe cases in anyone who received the vaccine.

The developers said the vaccine could be easily administered in existing healthcare systems, stored at 'fridge temperature' (2-8deg;C) and distributed using existing logistics.

from The Tribune https://ift.tt/33bZMNT
via IFTTT