On the 6th, at a hospital in Lyon, France, a nurse prepares for AstraZeneca Corona 19 vaccine. Lyon = AFP Yonhap News
The results of clinical trials from overseas show that the AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccine, introduced in Korea at the end of this month, has limitations in preventing a new coronavirus infection (Corona 19) and mutant infection from South Africa. The AZ vaccine is the welcome of the Korean government’s’vaccination campaign’ targeting 33 million people within this year.
According to the results of a joint study at Oxford University in the UK and the University of Bittersland in South Africa, cited by the British Daily Financial Times (FT) on the 6th (local time), the COVID-19 vaccine developed together by multinational pharmaceutical companies AZ and Oxford University It did not prevent the onset of mild and moderate symptoms. The two universities conducted phase 1 and 2 (stage) clinical trials on 2,026 people, and the median age of the participants was 31 years old.
Of course, this paper, which will be released on the 8th, has clear limitations. The test scale is small, and the participants are too young. AZ told FT that “most of the participants in the test were young and healthy adults, so we could not properly confirm the serious prevention effect.” The researchers explained that this test alone cannot determine whether it is effective in the severity of death or hospitalization. The thesis has not yet gone through the expert review process, Peer Review.
However, pharmaceutical companies believe that vaccines can prevent severe cases. “Especially when the first and second dose intervals are optimized for 8 to 12 weeks, our vaccine’s antibody neutralization activity is the same as that of other Corona 19 vaccines that have been shown to face more severe symptoms. I see,” he told FT.
So far, unlike the British variant, a vaccine that works well against the South African variant has not been developed. Both Johnson & Jones and NovaVax revealed that their vaccines against South African mutations were not effective in the prevention during clinical trials in South Africa, and after a study finding that Modena’s effectiveness was limited, they announced that they would make a vaccine targeting South African mutations. All.
Oxford University and AZ also promised on the 3rd that they would produce a next-generation vaccine against mutations by the fall of this year. Pfizer Biontech has not yet released the results of the South African mutant test. The Korean government plans to intensively inoculate AZ vaccine in nursing facilities in the first quarter of this year.
Kwon Kyung-seong reporter [email protected]
News directly edited by the Hankook Ilbo can also be viewed on Naver.
