All adults should be vaccinated against Covid-19 – expert
All adults should be vaccinated against Covid-19, an expert has said.
AstraZeneca's Mene Pangalos said adults of all ages need to be vaccinated against Covid-19 to make a "dent" in the pandemic.
The comments come after scientists from AstraZeneca and Oxford University became the first to publish their trial data in a peer-reviewed journal.
The study, published in the Lancet, showed the vaccine is "safe and effective".
Researchers said that they are still collecting data on the efficacy among older adults – who were recruited later to the trails than younger adults.
The results & data behind our #OxfordVaccine have now been independently verified in one of the world's leading medical journals, @TheLancet. This is the first set of COVID-19 vaccine data to undergo scientific peer review & demonstrates efficacy & safety: https://t.co/f1TPIjCkA1
— University of Oxford (@UniofOxford) December 8, 2020
"We actually do need to protect all age groups," Mr Pangalos told a briefing for journalists.
"I realise the people that are most severely impacted by disease are the over-65s, over-75s, over-85s, but the reality is we need to actually have vaccines that immunise everyone from adolescence to the oldest adults to really dent the pandemic around the world."
Pascal Soriot, chief executive at the pharmaceutical company, added: "It's important to vaccinate the younger group if we want to stop the transmission of this disease and get hold of the pandemic and control it.
"So the older group is an important one, but we also need vaccines to vaccinate wider population."
Many factors determine the degree to which a vaccine is effective, including broad, timely and equitable access for those in need. This cornerstone of our #COVID19 strategy has the potential to truly change the course of the pandemic. https://t.co/hQMmYRpCuwpic.twitter.com/SiFkIftyty
— AstraZeneca (@AstraZeneca) December 8, 2020
Mr Pangalos, executive vice president for biopharmaceuticals R&D at AstraZeneca, said the jab, if approved by regulators, will be an "important vaccine".
"I do believe that a vaccine with 62% efficacy, which is the minimum that we've shown here, is a viable and effective vaccine," he said.
"We have no cases of severe Covid, hospitalised Covid or deaths on the vaccine arm.
"So in terms of the impact it will have on healthcare systems and on populations at large, I think it will be a very important vaccine."
Interim results from pooled studies show the vaccine was 70.4% effective, on average, in preventing coronavirus after two doses were given.
For people given two full doses of the jab in one study, the vaccine was 62.1% effective.
In a study where people received a half dose followed by a full dose, the vaccine was 90% effective.
The overall efficacy of 70.4% is based on 11,636 volunteers across the United Kingdom and Brazil, and combined across three groups of people vaccinated.
Data for the vaccine has been submitted to the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for approval.
