The British pharmaceutical group AstraZeneca claimed to have found, after additional research, "
the winning formula
" for its vaccine against the Covid-19 developed with the University of Oxford, on which the British regulator, the MHRA, must pronounce in the next few days for injection from January 4.
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"
We believe that we have found the winning formula and how to achieve efficiency which, with two doses, is high like that of the others
", declared the general manager Pascal Soriot in the
Sunday Times
, assuring that his vaccine ensured a "
100% protection
”against severe forms of Covid-19.
In interim results from large-scale clinical trials in the United Kingdom and Brazil, the British laboratory announced in November that its vaccine was on average 70% effective against more than 90% for those of Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna .
Two different protocols
Behind this average result are hidden large differences between two different protocols: the efficacy is 90% for the volunteers who first received a half-dose, then a full dose a month later, but only 62% for another group vaccinated with two full doses.
These results were criticized because the injection of half a dose was due to an error and a relatively small group had followed this protocol.
The company then announced that its vaccine required "
an additional study
".
The Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine is eagerly awaited because it is relatively inexpensive and does not need to be stored as cold as that of Pfizer / BioNTech for example, stored at -70 degrees.
This makes vaccination on a large scale as well as in nursing homes easier.
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The first Western country to have started injecting Pfizer / BioNTech doses in early December, the United Kingdom is counting on this second vaccine to ramp up and to put an end to the surge in cases attributed to its soil to a new variant of the coronavirus.
Against this mutation, "
we think for the moment that the vaccine should remain effective,
" said Pascal Soriot.
"
But we can't be sure so we'll do some testing
."
He assured that new versions were prepared just in case, while hoping not to need them: "
You have to be prepared
".
100 million doses ordered by the UK
The UK has ordered 100 million doses of the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine, of which 40 million will be available by the end of March.
In all, the government has ensured access to more than 350 million doses by the end of next year, sourcing from seven manufacturers as early as the clinical trials phase.
In total, more than 600,000 people have already received a first dose of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine.
The success of the current campaign in the United Kingdom is made all the more crucial as the United Kingdom, one of the countries most affected by the pandemic with more than 70,000 dead, is seeing the contaminations pick up again.
The authorities attributed this resurgence to a mutation, which, according to a British study, has a higher contagiousness of 50% to 74%.
To counter this trend, the authorities have reconfigured part of the population, especially in London.
Since Saturday, mainland Scotland and Northern Ireland have in turn been subject to containment.
