It’s the news that many feared: early data shows that the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine may provide only “minimal protection” against mild to moderate diseases caused by the coronavirus variant first identified in South Africa.
A South African university study released Sunday suggested that two doses of the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine provided “substantially reduced” protection against mild to moderate Covid-19 disease from the new virus variant first identified there, known as B.1.351.
South Africa said it is halting rollout of the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine after the study’s publication.
But this does not mean that governments should throw out their AstraZeneca stocks. Experts say it is possible – and very likely – that the injection will still be effective in preventing serious illness and death.
However, the news could be a major roadblock in the world getting out of the pandemic, which cannot ‘end’ until the virus stops circulating.
That’s because the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine is cheaper and easier to transport and store than some of the other vaccines approved for use to date and as such would play a key role in fighting the pandemic in low and low middle-income countries. If the vaccine isn’t effective enough against the new variant, it could deepen the already huge vaccination gap between the world’s richest and poorest countries.
Less effective vaccines could force countries where the new variants become dominant to change their vaccination strategy. Rather than trying to achieve herd immunity, the emphasis could be on avoiding as many deaths as possible, even if the virus continues to circulate.
And while data from South Africa is undoubtedly a setback for vaccination campaigns, scientists are already working on updates to the existing vaccines to make them more effective against new variants.
On Saturday, AstraZeneca said it is working with the University of Oxford to adapt the vaccine to the B.1.351 variant and that it would advance it through clinical development to “get it ready for fall delivery if needed” .
Last month, Pfizer said it was “laying the groundwork” to create a vaccine booster that could respond to coronavirus variants.
“We see this all the time with the flu vaccine,” said Dr. Julian Tang, honorary associate professor and clinical virologist at the University of Leicester. Flu vaccines are modified every year to target the virus strains that are most circulating. Sometimes the chosen vaccine does not match the predominant strain.
“Mismatched vaccine seasons allow for more influenza infections, morbidity and mortality – but to some extent this is inevitable because the virus always mutates first – then we will have to adapt our vaccines to the new virus,” added Tang. .
British Health Minister Matt Hancock said on Monday that the flu blueprint may work for the coronavirus in the future.
“The shot is updated every year based on the mutations and variations that have occurred and noted in recent months, and is manufactured in the summer and then delivered in the fall to those most vulnerable to the flu,” he said.
When it comes to Covid-19, he explained that we need to think about how to protect people in a similar way.
The good news is that developing a vaccine that would work against the new variants doesn’t mean you have to start all over again, so updates may be available soon.
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