The results of the South African study, suggesting that the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine offers reduced protection against the Covid-19 variant first identified there, are in many ways “exactly what we expected,” lead investigator of the Oxford vaccine trial Professor Andrew Pollard said Tuesday.
I think that might be the clue to the future here: that we are going to see new variants emerge and they will spread among the population – like most viruses that cause colds every winter – but as long as we have enough immunity to prevent the disease To prevent serious illness, hospitalization and death, the pandemic will be fine in the future, ”Pollard told BBC Radio 4.
Early data released Sunday suggests that two doses of the Oxford / AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine provided only “minimal protection” against mild and moderate Covid-19 of the variant first identified in South Africa. The full study, which has not been released, involved approximately 2,000 volunteers who averaged 31 years of age; about half received the vaccine and the other half received a placebo.
Pollard said the study in South Africa “absolutely confirms what we know about the biology of the virus, it has to be passed between humans to survive and it has to mutate to do that and it has already been done in South Africa and that. will affect mild disease in people who have been vaccinated. “
“The really important point, however, is that all vaccines – wherever they have been tested in the world – still prevent serious illness and death,” Pollard emphasized.
He said the “jury is out” whether the world needs new vaccines to counter variants, but developers are preparing them just in case we do.
South African health officials said Sunday they have paused the start of a massive rollout of the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine to collect data on hospital admissions and to see how effective the vaccine is in preventing serious illness in people infected with the South African variant.
Pollard said the South African government has thought “correctly” about how to use the vaccine, after initially targeting health workers.
He also emphasized that the study in South Africa was a small study looking at young adults who only get mild infections.
What we expected in that environment is that the virus can still cause very mild infections and that’s exactly what we saw in that study, ”said Pollard.
“We are the only people so far who have a study that looks at that variant in a population of young people and tells us about the future of this virus – that it will find ways to transmit and cause mild infections, colds and so on. further, in the population, “Pollard said.
“The really important question is about a serious infection and we didn’t study that in South Africa because that was not the aim of the study,” he added, noting that “we asked questions specifically about young adults. “
Commenting on the research being given the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine, Pollard said that “it is a little confusing to be in the middle of the political debate … we have made a huge effort here at the University of Oxford to to be transparent in everything we do. “