AstraZeneca expects to produce more than 100 million doses of the company’s Covid-19 vaccine – developed with Oxford University – during February, ramping up to more than 200 million a month by April, Chief Executive Pascal Soriot said.
South Africa delayed the distribution of the AstraZeneca-University of Oxford Covid-19 vaccine after data suggested it “provides minimal protection” against mild disease from the South African variant.
Oxford University and AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine showed in a study it had 76% efficacy against symptomatic infection for three months after a single dose, which increased if the second shot is delayed, backing Britain’s vaccine rollout policy.
AstraZeneca and Oxford University aim to produce the next generation of Covid-19 vaccines that will protect against variants as soon as autumn 2021, a senior executive at the British drugmaker said.
About 1,500 of the initial volunteers in a late-stage clinical trial of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine were given the wrong dose, but were not informed that a mistake had been made after the blunder was discovered, documents obtained by Reuters show.
Europe’s medicines regulator approved AstraZeneca and Oxford University’s Covid-19 vaccine for people older than the age of 18, the third vaccine to be cleared for use in the European Union.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca is effective across all age groups, after Germany recommended the shot be given only to under-65s.
Much of the attention on Pfizer, BioNTech, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca has been on their Covid-19 vaccine efforts, and here is a look at what else is going on with these companies.
AstraZeneca denied the company’s Covid-19 vaccine is not very effective for people over 65 years old, after German media reports said officials fear the vaccine may not be approved in the European Union for use in the elderly.
Larger clinical trials are needed to assess whether Roche’s Actemra (tocilizumab) can cut death rates among the sickest Covid-19 patients after a small study found the arthritis drug was no better than standard care in severe cases.