Faced with doubts, AstraZeneca announces its vaccine needs “extra research”

AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals announced on Nov. 25 that it will conduct “additional research” with its partner, the University of Oxford, on a new coronary vaccine jointly developed by the two companies.

Citing known results from extensive clinical trials in the UK and Brazil, AFP said that AstraZeneca’s New Crown vaccine has an average efficacy rate of 70%, but that behind this average, there is a large variation. For example, in one group of volunteers who received a half dose first and then a full dose a month later, the vaccine was 90% effective; however, in another group of volunteers who received two full doses at one-month intervals, the vaccine was only 62% effective.

Although the first vaccination configuration was purely accidental, it turned out to be more effective than the other one, according to AstraZeneca’s CEO, Mr. Thoriot. But for that reason, the first vaccination cohort had only 3,000 volunteers, so the company intends to “conduct additional studies” that will be unlikely to delay the regulatory approval process for the Neocrown vaccine in the European Union and the United Kingdom. Oxford University vaccine leader André Pollard said this week that further study results would be available next month.

The “errors” that led to the discovery of a 90% effective vaccination method have brought AstraZeneca into disrepute. Monserf Slavi, chief scientist of the U.S. government’s Operation Curvature Ratio (OCR) program, also pointed out that AstraZeneca’s 90% efficacy vaccine configuration has an age limit of 55 years, so it “excludes high-risk groups from the vaccine”. outside”.