Covid-19: London's vaccine strategy supported by a study - France 24

London (AFP)

Contested by its European neighbors, the United Kingdom's vaccine strategy against the coronavirus is reinforced on Wednesday by a study showing the effectiveness of the AstraZeneca / Oxford vaccine from the first dose to protect against the disease as well as to curb its transmission.

These conclusions are greeted with triumphalism in the United Kingdom as the country, very hard hit by the virus, announced that it had injected a first dose to more than 10 million people.

According to this study from the University of Oxford, which has yet to be peer reviewed before publication, a first dose of the vaccine developed with the Swedish-British AstraZeneca has reduced the rate of positive PCR tests by 67%.

"Even a 50% reduction (...) will potentially have a very significant impact in terms of transmission," said Mene Pangalos, an AstraZeneca manager, during a virtual press conference.

"We are very confident that this vaccine will have an impact on the main new variant" identified in England, said project leader Andrew Pollard of Oxford, while stressing that the virus would continue to mutate and continue to be transmitted, even in vaccinated people.

Against infections, the analysis of clinical trials on more than 17,000 people shows an efficacy of 76% after a first dose, which is maintained for three months.

Efficacy climbs to 82% after a second dose injected three months later.

- New vaccines in the fall -

For the British government, these elements "categorically" confirm the government's strategy, which has decided to postpone the injection of the second dose for up to twelve weeks in order to reach as many people as possible, and approved the AstraZeneca vaccine as soon as possible. December.

Believing lack of data, some EU countries prefer not to inject it to over 65s as it is, and Switzerland has called for "additional studies" before giving the green light.

"This shows the world that the Oxford vaccine is working well," Health Minister Matt Hancock told the BBC.

Despite assurances from the British health authorities, the strategy has been criticized by experts, but also by countries like France.

The French Secretary of State for European Affairs, Clément Beaune, estimated that the British were taking "in this vaccination campaign (...) a lot of risks".

Before its approval by the EU, President Emmanuel Macron had expressed doubts about the AstraZeneca vaccine: "Today it is believed to be virtually ineffective for those over 65".

Critics rejected outright by AstraZeneca.

"From an immunological point of view, older adults seem to respond in a very similar way to young adults," insisted Mene Pangalos, adding that the data, still limited, would be completed in the coming weeks.

The British government is counting on vaccination to allow an exit from the strict confinement in force in the United Kingdom, where more than 109,000 deaths from Covid-19 are deplored.

The threshold of 10 million people who received a dose of vaccine was crossed Wednesday, "a very significant step in our national effort against this virus" according to Matt Hancock.

"Most of my colleagues think we are past the peak" of this second wave, England chief medical officer Chris Whitty said at a press conference, saying the country was on "a downward spiral. top-down concerning cases of contamination, hospitalizations and deaths ".

"If these vaccines reduce transmission by the amount indicated, it will mean that the relaxation of social restrictions will be possible sooner than if we had to wait for herd immunity" commented Dr Gillies O'Bryan-Tear, former president of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has indicated that on February 22 he will detail his roadmap to get out of confinement.

This glimmer of hope comes at the very moment when concern is growing after the detection, on British soil, of the variant which appeared in South Africa, and of an English variant presenting a common mutation with the South African.

Faced with these new variants, AstraZeneca said it hoped to be able to offer "a new generation" of anti-Covid vaccine this fall, in time for the winter campaign.

© 2021 AFP