Australia’s chief medical officer has warned real-world information might be wanted to find out how efficient one dose of the nation’s vaccines are towards the Indian coronavirus pressure.
Melbourne is within the midst of an outbreak of the variant, which has contaminated greater than 50 individuals and plunged Victoria into lockdown.
A Public Well being England examine discovered final month two doses of AstraZeneca and Pfizer have been 88 per cent efficient towards the pressure.
However that fell to 33 per cent three weeks after a single dose.
Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly mentioned he was cautious of the “pre-print” examine as a result of it had not been peer reviewed.
“Lots of these articles have been confirmed to be false,” he instructed a Senate estimates listening to on Tuesday.
Professor Kelly mentioned the info got here from a laboratory examine and real-world info was wanted to find out effectiveness towards the Indian pressure.
“We do not know. We’ll know after we’ve had extra expertise.”
He cited a distinct examine within the British Medical Journal, which reported each vaccines have been 80 per cent efficient at stopping hospitalisations after a single dose.
Well being Division Secretary Brendan Murphy defended the effectiveness of a single dose.
“We do not know. It could be the vaccines are much less efficient towards the Indian variant after one or two doses,” he mentioned.
“The purpose I used to be making, and this is applicable to all the variants and vaccines, was that the primary dose inside weeks supplies excellent safety. That is all the info we’ve.”
Professor Murphy mentioned new strains might change vaccine efficacy.
“If within the Indian variant the vaccines are much less efficient after one dose, they’re in all probability much less efficient after two doses. We simply do not know that.”
The chief medical officer additionally confirmed there can be a necessity for booster photographs to fight coronavirus variants of concern sooner or later.
Australian Related Press