The AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine protects against a more transmissible variant of the virus first identified in the United Kingdom, according to research published Friday.
The study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, found that the vaccine is 74.6 percent effective against the variant, “similar” but somewhat lower than the 84 percent effectiveness against the non-variant strain.
The effectiveness of a range of vaccines against the U.K. variant, also known as B.1.1.7, has been reassuring, though experts are more concerned about at least some drop in effectiveness rates against a different variant first found in South Africa.
Data from our trials of the ChAdOx1 vaccine in the United Kingdom indicate that the vaccine not only protects against the original pandemic virus, but also protects against the novel variant, B.1.1.7, which caused the surge in disease from the end of 2020 across the UK,” said Andrew Pollard, an Oxford professor working on the vaccine.
Even though vaccines appear to be effective against it, the U.K. variant still poses a risk of causing a spike in the coming weeks in the U.S. given its transmissibility, because many Americans are not yet vaccinated. ...
