This week, AstraZeneca’s vaccine could be approved in England. The pharmaceutical company assures 100 percent reliability.
The recently criticized vaccine from Swedish-British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca is close to approval in the UK. According to information leaked in advance by British media from a source close to the company, the vaccine is now 100 percent effective.
“We believe we have found the winning formula,” company chief executive Pascal Soriot confirmed to The Sunday Times. He said AstraZeneca’s vaccine can provide “100 percent protection” against severe courses of disease caused by the corona pathogen. It is also said to be effective against the Corona mutation that has recently emerged in the United Kingdom. Green light from authorities for the vaccine is expected in the coming days, he said. The government hopes that two million people could receive the first dose of one of the two vaccines in the next two weeks. So far, 600,000 Britons have been vaccinated. The U.K. has led the way in Europe with the emergency approval.
The British government has already ordered 100 million doses in advance, he said. Such high hopes rest on the vector vaccine because it is comparatively inexpensive and does not have to be stored at such low temperatures as other competing products. This makes it attractive to other countries as well.
The negative press was initially based on misinformation about possible side effects of the vaccine. Then came criticism for confusing claims about the study results. For example, the average efficacy was supposed to be 70 percent, which would have been significantly less than the competition. However, it then emerged that the 70 percent was calculated from two different studies, and that a lower dose of the vaccine achieved higher efficacy. AstraZeneca then announced follow-up studies to confirm that the lower dose appeared to produce a better result. This could delay the approval process.
- Source: heute.at/picture: pixabay.com
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