The vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca is safe and has the best immune response when a full two-dose regimen is used, new trial data shows.
The UK has secured 100 million doses of the jab, which the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is currently considering whether or not to approve.
Detailed new data from phase one and two clinical trials shows the vaccine stimulates a broad range of antibody and T-cell responses, and the paper states that it “strongly supports” the team’s move to a two-dose regimen in ongoing phase three trials.
Findings from phase three trials published in The Lancet earlier this month had previously found that the jab is 90 per cent efficacious if administered at a half dose and then at a full dose, or 62 per cent effective if administered in two full doses. However, more work needs to be done to affirm that result.
The jab had come under scrutiny following the emergence of apparent irregularities in the trial data released in November – when it was revealed that the particularly effective half-dose/full-dose regimen was initially administered in UK trial participants by mistake.
“This highly detailed analysis of the immune responses to ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 further underpins the potential of this vaccine to induce protection against Covid-19 disease and provides additional reassurance of the safety of this approach,” said Professor Katie Ewer at the University of Oxford.
“Using these advanced immunological techniques, we can better understand the different cellular and antibody-mediated mechanisms that contribute to the protection afforded by this vaccine, as demonstrated in the recent data from the subsequent phase three trials.”
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