UK says AstraZeneca vaccine prevents death as South Africa decision raises questions about it
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The Astrazeneca COVID-19 vaccine prevents death and serious illness and is effective against the main variants of the virus in the United Kingdom, though people may have to have a booster shot as it mutates, a junior health minister said on Monday.
“There is no evidence that this vaccine is not effective in preventing hospitalisation and severe illness and death, which ultimately is what we’re seeking with these vaccines today,” British junior health minister Edward Argar told Sky.
“The dominant strains in this country are not the South African strain, there are a small number of cases of that, the dominant strains here are the historic one we’ve had, and then the Kent variant, against which this vaccine is highly effective.”
Argar said just 147 people had been known to have been infected with the South African variant in Britain, though he allowed that booster shots – such as against the common flu – might be needed in the future as the virus mutates.
“It would be just be normal in a sense as we did with the flu vaccine to update it to catch anything the virus is trying to do to keep ahead of it,” he said.
Sarah Gilbert, professor of vaccinology at the University of Oxford, said efforts were underway to develop a new generation of booster shot vaccines that will allow protection against emerging variants.
“This is the same issue that is faced by all of the vaccine developers, and we will continue to monitor the emergence of new variants that arise in readiness for a future strain change,” she said.
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 be more contagious than others.
The United Kingdom, which has the world’s fifth worst official death toll with more than 110,000, has vaccinated 12.014 million people with a first dose. Around half a million people have received a second dose. (Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge and Kate Holton; editing by Michael Holden and Angus MacSwan)
