ASTRAZENECA FAILS TO PREVENT CORONAVIRUS FROM SOUTH AFRICAN STRAIN

  • 07/02/2021

British drugmaker AstraZeneca said on Saturday its vaccine developed with the University of Oxford appeared to offer only limited protection against mild disease caused by the South African variant of COVID-19, based on early data from a trial.The study from South Africa's University of the Witwatersrand and Oxford University showed the vaccine had significantly reduced efficacy against the South African variant.

The study, with a relatively small sample size of more than 2,000 individuals, hasn't yet been peer-reviewed and is due to be published on Monday .
Among coronavirus variants currently most concerning for scientists and public health experts are the so-called British, South African and Brazilian variants, which appear to spread more swiftly than others.

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