路透新闻部
(Adds company reaction, background on trial read-out)
FRANKFURT, Jan 25 (Reuters) - AstraZeneca denied on Monday its COVID-19 vaccine is not very effective for people over 65, after German media reports said officials fear the vaccine may not be approved in the European Union for use in the elderly.
German daily papers Handelsblatt and Bild said in separate reports the vaccine - co-developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University - had an efficacy of 8% or less than 10%, respectively, in those over 65.
German officials were concerned that the vaccine may not receive approval from the EU’s medicines authority EMA for use in those over 65, Bild said in its online edition.
Scientists across the world were locked in fierce debate yesterday over the wisdom, or otherwise, of the UK switching to a single-dose strategy for the Covid vaccine.
White coats were flapping on social media after Britain’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) published its rationale for the move on Thursday night.
“Given the high level of protection afforded by the first dose, models suggest that initially vaccinating a greater number of people with a single dose will prevent more deaths and hospitalisations than vaccinating a smaller number of people with two doses,” said the JCVI.
That the move, first floated by former British prime minister Tony Blair last week, is an innovation there can be little doubt, although some prefer the word ‘gamble’.
LONDON - Britain became the first country to approve the coronavirus vaccine developed jointly by Oxford University and AstraZeneca Wednesday. Scientists say the vaccine could be a game changer in the global fight against the pandemic.
Regulators say the vaccine has shown around 70% effectiveness against COVID-19, a relatively high figure compared to vaccines for many other diseases.
“This vaccine, COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca, has been approved for use in people aged 18 years and older, with two standard doses, four to 12 weeks apart,” said Dr. June Raine, CEO of Britain’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
“As I ve said before, and I will say again today, the safety of the public always comes first. The MHRA s approval has been reached following a thorough and scientifically rigorous review of all the evidence of safety, of quality and of effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca,” Raine added, during a press conferen
A guide to who can safely get the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine A dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine is prepared.
Jessica Hill/AP
With the first doses of Covid-19 vaccine being administered across the United States, questions abound about who can safely get them.
Expect answers to those questions to evolve as the vaccines go into broader use. But here’s what is known so far, and what experts at or advising the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend regarding their use at this point.
Pregnant people
The Covid vaccine developed by Pfizer and its partner, BioNTech, hasn’t yet been tested in pregnant people in fact none of the vaccines in development have been. Drug and vaccine makers are always reluctant to include pregnant people in clinical initial trials for fear of injuring a developing fetus or threatening a pregnancy.