AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine is safe and effective: WHO panel
New Delhi: The Statement arrived from the World Health Organization (WHO) panel on Wednesday recommended use of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine to fight against all coronavirus variants.
The WHO panel’s has statement arrived when the Cape Town government halted the use of AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine for not being effective against Covid-19 mild and moderate cases. The government of South Africa this week had paused part of its rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine after data from a small trial showed it did not protect against mild to moderate illness.
The WHO panel on AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine said that “AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine is safe and effective and should be deployed widely, including in countries where the South African variant of the coronavirus has spread.”
According to research on South African coronavirus variants N501Y and E484K in South Africa – Oxford Covid vaccine has 10 percent efficacy against South African variants.
Scientists who conducted a small-scale trial of the vaccine’s efficacy said it showed very little protection against mild to moderate infection, though they expressed hope that – in theory – it would still offer significant protection against more serious infection.
One of the South African variants, 501Y.V2, appears to be about 50 percent more contagious, meaning it is more dangerous than the original virus at getting into human cells.
The benefits of the Covid-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University outweigh any risks and the shot should be recommended for use, including in people aged 65 and older, the WHO pandel said.
Immunisation expert of WHO – Kate O’Brien said “the agency was talking with experts and ministry officials in South Africa and providing advice.”
_Vinayak.Barot
