Coronavirus vaccine Covishield was developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University (File)
New Delhi:
The Oxford coronavirus vaccine will protect “95 percent of patients” and is “as effective as the Pfizer and Moderna alternatives,” Pascal Soriot, AstraZeneca’s CEO, told the UK daily The Sunday Times, adding that scientists are ” winning formula “to get everyone there to work”.
However, AstraZeneca, a British-Swedish pharmaceutical giant, has not yet released data confirming these claims. Interim results from Phase III studies released last month showed an efficacy rate of 70 percent as the average of two dosing regimens. One of these regimens – a half dose followed by a full dose – showed 90 percent efficacy, while Pfizer’s data showed 95 percent and Moderna’s 94.5 percent.
Mr Soriot also said the vaccine, which is likely to be approved by the UK health regulator this week, “should be effective” against an aggressive mutant strain of the virus first discovered in London and South East England in September.
The Oxford vaccine, which will be mass-produced in India by the Pune-based Serum Institute, is one of three drugs under consideration by the Indian government for emergency use authorization. The other two are those developed by Pfizer (which has already been rolled out in the United Kingdom, the United States and several European countries) and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin.
On Saturday, sources told the PTI news agency that the DCGI (Drug Controller General of India) was waiting for the UK drug regulator to release the Oxford vaccine.
Given that Pfizer has yet to present its data and Bharat Biotech has not yet completed phase III studies, it is likely, the sources added, that the drug AstraZeneca-Oxford will become the first Covid vaccine to be released in India. is used. It also scores against its rivals on at least two critical points: ease of storage and cost.
While the Pfizer vaccine should be stored at minus 70 degrees Celsius and the Moderna variant at minus 20 degrees Celsius, the Oxford vaccine can be stored at normal refrigerator temperatures – two to eight degrees Celsius. The difference can be crucial for a country the size of India.
The Oxford vaccine is also expected to be cheaper than the Pfizer and Moderna options; it probably costs $ 2.5 per dose for Pfizers $ 20 and Moderna $ 25. All three require a two-dose regimen.
The Indian government has begun preparations for a nationwide rollout of the vaccine that will be released first. Monday and Tuesday, four states – Punjab, Gujarat, Assam and Andhra Pradesh – will participate in test runs of the vaccination process.
India expects to begin vaccination “in every week” of January, Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan said. As of Sunday morning, the country reported 2.79 lakh of active Covid cases. The total number of cases since the pandemic started last December is about 1.02 crore.
With input from PTI