AstraZeneca could have Covid-19 vaccine against variant by end-2021: Report AstraZeneca could have Covid-19 vaccine against variant by end-2021: Report Reuters | Apr 18, 2021, 19:10 IST ZURICH: A modified version of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine tailored to combat a coronavirus variant first documented in South Africa could be ready by the end of 2021, an AstraZeneca official in Austria said in an interview published on Sunday. Sarah Walters, AstraZeneca's Austria country manager, told the Kurier newspaper that studies, so far, indicating the existing AstraZeneca vaccine was less effective against the more infectious variant first documented in South Africa were "too small to draw final conclusions".