Both Pfizer and Oxford Covid jabs heading in right direction, say experts

Coronavirus - Mon Feb 8, 2021
The findings come after the revelation yesterday that more than half of people in England diagnosed with Covid-19 did not display any of the most common symptoms.
PA

A vaccines expert today said “it’s all pointing in the right direction” as early data suggested that first doses of both the Pfizer and Oxford jabs give a good level of protection.

Professor Adam Finn, from Bristol University and a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, also stressed that the Pfizer jab appeared to give some protection for the very elderly and frail.

Leaked data suggested that the first Pfizer dose reportedly cuts the symptomatic infection risk by 64 per cent in over-80s and by 65 per cent in younger adults. After a second dose, the protection level was said to rise to between 79 and 84 per cent in all ages. The Oxford/AstraZenecavaccine is reported to offer similar levels of protection.

It came as four new symptoms of Covid-19 were revealed today — chills, loss of appetite, headache and muscle aches. These are in addition to the “classic” symptoms — loss of smell and taste, fever and new persistent cough.

Headaches that indicated Covid-19 were most common in children aged five to 17. The findings, from Imperial College’s React study, come after the revelation yesterday that more than half of people in England diagnosed with Covid-19 did not display any of the most common symptoms.

This could prompt public health chiefs to review the guidance on when to get a Covid-19 test — but raises the problem that many of the new symptoms overlap with those seen with flu. Professor Finn, who is carrying out work on the effectiveness of the Pfizer vaccine for elderly people with pneumonia in hospital, told the Standard: “It’s all pointing in the right direction. The vaccine appears to be working, even in very frail, old people.”

However, he cautioned against putting figures on the efficacy of the jabs from the studies at this stage given how wide the level of confidence in the findings currently were, through, they were getting narrower.

England’s deputy chief medical officer, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, also warned of being over-optimistic before the full findings are published.

He said: “I’m hopeful that we will have verified data within ... a few days, but certainly within one or two weeks, we should start to get some signals that are reliable. I don’t comment on leaked information. I would offer a lot of caution about leaked information, about understanding it and interpreting it properly and potentially that it’s preliminary.”

Dr Simon Clarke, associate professor in cellular microbiology at Reading University, stressed if the findings on Pfizer were correct it would be “very good news” given earlier concerns over how effective it would be for the over-80s, though he stressed people should still have the second dose.

If the vaccine efficacies after a first dose are confirmed, then it will raise hopes that lockdown can be gradually eased from the spring and into the summer.

With concerns over levels of vaccine “hesitancy”, particularly in black and Asian minority ethnic communities, Professor Van-Tam added: “We’re well over the 12 million mark now in terms of vaccines we’ve deployed and we’re getting to a point where, if we were going to see any kind of safety signal, it would be pretty obvious by now.”

He told the BBC that all the polls show that “vaccine confidence is generally really high in the UK compared to many parts of the world and the enthusiasm and likelihood that people are going to accept Covid-19 vaccines when called is super-high”.

He added: “People get it that this virus is horrible and kills you — particularly if you’re in a high risk group or elderly group — with ease.”

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