AstraZeneca Vaccine Latest Updates: The WHO on Wednesday said that the AstraZeneca-Oxford Coronavirus vaccine can be used for people over the age of 65, and also in settings where variants of the virus are circulating.
After taking the totality of available evidence into account, the WHO has recommended the vaccine for use in people aged 65 years and older. The WHO said the vaccine could also be used in places where “variants are present,” despite a recent study suggesting it was far less effective against a strain of the virus first detected in South Africa.
On Tuesday, the WHO experts reviewed the efficacy of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, after a study showed that it was less effective against a new variant of the virus discovered in South Africa.
Addressing a press briefing on Monday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said although the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is one of the several that have been shown to be effective in preventing severe disease, hospitalisations and deaths from Covid-19, the emergence of new variants of the virus has raised concerns about their potential impacts on the efficacy of vaccines.
Monday’s development came a day after, South Africa, where the new variant named B.1.351 was found, announced that the rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the country would be temporarily put on hold until more clinical efficacy information becomes available.
Also at the briefing, Kate O’Brien, director of the Department for Immunization, Vaccines, and Biologicals at the WHO, said SAGE had met investigators from the trials being conducted in Britain and Brazil, as well as AstraZeneca and investigators from South African trials.