Oxford vaccine ‘could be approved in dosage that makes it 90% effective’

 Approval of the ‘home-grown’ jab could come before Christmas
FILE PHOTO: The word "COVID-19" is reflected in a drop on a syringe needle in this illustration
Approval of the “home-grown” Oxford vaccine could come before Christmas
REUTERS

The Oxford vaccine could be given to Britons in the “half-dose, full dose” format that makes it 90 per cent effective, its lead scientist has said.

Professor Sarah Gilbert said it was possible that the MHRA, the UK’s medicines regulator, could approve the roll-out of the vaccine in the dosage that proved most effective in a sub-group of people involved in clinical trials.

It came as GPs said they expected to start vaccinating patients with the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine, used in NHS hospitals yesterday for the first time in the world, from next Tuesday. The Pfizer vaccine, which is made in Belgium, is 94 per cent effective, including in older people.

The Standard understands that approval of the “home-grown” Oxford vaccine could come before Christmas, depending on requests from the MHRA for additional data from its UK-based manufacturers, AstraZeneca.

The Oxford vaccine group on Tuesday published in The Lancet the first full results of its phase 3 trials, including its effectiveness in 11,636 participants in the UK and Brazil.

This showed the vaccine – which is much easier to distribute than the Pfizer jab as it only requires standard refrigeration – prevented symptomatic Covid disease in 70 per cent of cases.

This figure combined the 62 per cent efficacy for those given two full doses, and the 90 per cent efficacy in those given a half then a full dose.

Asked if the vaccine could be administered in the half-dose, full dose format, Professor Gilbert told the Today programme: “Yes we could. That is certainly possible.”

There were 1,300 people in the sub-group given the half-dose first but no elderly participants – though the immune response in elderly people from two standard doses showed no drop-off in protection.

Asked if the Lancet results allowed the MHRA to approve the first half-dose format in people over 55 as well as those under 55, Professor Gilbert said: “Yes, they could decide to do that.”

She said in relation to the study’s overall results: “What we should take away from it is that the vaccine is safe, it’s highly effective, and one really important finding is that 21 days after being given the first dose of the vaccine nobody was admitted to hospital with covid or had severe covid disease.”

The UK government has ordered 100m doses of the Oxford jab and 40m of the Pfizer jab. A first batch of 800,000 Pfizer jabs is in the UK and more than a million more are expected next week, it was reported today. About two million more doses are then expected in the following week.

Cabinet minister Michael Gove told Sky News: "Yesterday was a great, day, the world was watching as the very first vaccinations that occurred, occurred here in the UK thanks to the NHS.

"We know that more vaccine is arriving from the current level of stocks which are coming from Belgium.

"But we also know that the Oxford/AstraZeneca (vaccine) passed some more tests yesterday and I hope, again I have to defer to the official medical regulator, that we will be able to be injecting people with that vaccine soon."

GPs are due to start administering the jab to elderly patients and care home residents from next week after the MHRA approved the distribution of the 975-dose packs, which have to be stored at -70C, with only five days allowed for use when taken out of deep freeze.

Professor Martin Marshall, chairman of the Royal College of GPs, told LBC last night: “The MHRA has given permission for its use in general practice.

“I have no doubt at all, as long as it is handled carefully, it will be possible to deliver it to general practice. That is going to be happening from Tuesday of next week.

“We have got a group of practices, about 250 or so across the country that will be working together in order to deliver the vaccine, particularly focusing on people in care homes and people over the age of 80.”

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