Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine Is 70% Effective, Doesn't Need Refrigeration
Surprisingly, when the volunteers were given two high doses, the protection dropped to 62 percent. However, when the volunteers were given a low dose first followed by a high dose, the effectiveness shot up 90 percent.
Since a few weeks, we¡¯ve been seeing potential COVID-19 vaccines show how effective they¡¯re against the novel coronavirus.
We¡¯ve seen Pfizer¡¯s and Moderna¡¯s vaccine get up to 95 percent effective, and that has surely made so many happy.
Reuters
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However, amidst this vaccine race was another contender --the ChAdOx1 by Oxford and AstraZeneca. We were desperately waiting for the effective rating for this particular vaccine since it will probably be the one most Indians would be getting, thanks to the team up with Serum Institute of India.
And now, Oxford has revealed that the COVID-19 vaccine developed by them has seen to be 70 percent effective in stopping the development of COVID-19 symptoms.
The trial involved over 20,000 volunteers from the UK and Brazil. Researchers discovered 30 cases of COVID-19 in people who received the vaccine, whereas 101 cases in people who were given the placebo.
Surprisingly, when the volunteers were given two high doses, the protection dropped to 62 percent. However, when the volunteers were given a low dose first followed by a high dose, the effectiveness shot up 90 percent.
For many, this might seem like a disappointment considering other contenders are showing over 90 percent of effectiveness, however, it is important to note that 50 percent effectiveness is the cutoff to be successful and it¡¯s way over that. Moreover, not only is the vaccine going to be cheaper than the aforementioned two, but it is also not a pain to manage.
Reuters
In case you didn¡¯t know, Moderna and Pfizer vaccines require constant refrigeration, which can make it difficult to ship vaccines to locations where there¡¯s no means of keeping it cold. The Oxford vaccine, on the other hand, doesn¡¯t require such complicated storage methods, so it can easily reach the remotest parts of the world.
Prof Sarah Gilbert, the brains behind the vaccine said in a statement, "The announcement today takes us another step closer to the time when we can use vaccines to bring an end to the devastation caused by the virus."
