"Booster" shot of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine gives strong immune response - study

Record ID: 1623894

  • Title: "Booster" shot of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine gives strong immune response - study
  • Date: 28th June 2021
  • Summary: OXFORD, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (JUNE 28, 2021) (REUTERS VIA ZOOM) SOUNDBITE (English) ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF IMMUNOLOGY AND VACCINOLOGY AT OXFORD UNIVERSITY, TERESA LAMBE, SAYING: “The data that we are presenting today suggest that we could use this vaccination in a booster campaign if it was needed and I’m not convinced that we have the evidence yet that it is needed. So what you will see is that in certain populations or perhaps older adults or individuals that are immune suppressed you may see a waning of the immune response dipping down more than you would like and those individuals may need to boost. But we’re not seeing that at a population level yet, what we are seeing is real-world effectiveness data against some variants of concern that are pretty scary, that are demonstrating that these vaccines are working really well.”
  • Embargoed: 12th July 2021 11:58
  • Keywords: AstraZeneca COVID-19 Oxford antibodies vaccines
  • Location: OXFORD, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM/FILE
  • City: OXFORD, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM/FILE
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Europe,Health/Medicine
  • Reuters ID: LVA005EJBFEX3
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: A third "booster" shot of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine produces a strong immune response, researchers said on Monday (June 28), adding there was no evidence that such shots were necessary for light of shortages in some countries.
    The Oxford study found that a third dose of the vaccine increases antibody and T-cell immune responses, while the second dose can be delayed up to 45 weeks and also lead to an enhanced immune response.
    The British government has said it is looking at plans for an autumn booster vaccine campaign, with three-fifths of adults already having received both doses of a COVID vaccine.
    Studies had previously shown that AstraZeneca shot, which was invented at Oxford University, has higher efficacy when the second dose is delayed to 12 weeks instead of four weeks.
    Monday's research was released in a preprint and looked at 30 participants who received a late second dose and 90 who received a third dose.
    Real-world data has shown good protection against severe disease from two doses of the vaccine against the Alpha variant which fuelled Britain's second wave of infections and the Delta variant which is now dominant
    At the weekend, Oxford launched a trial of a version of its COVID-19 vaccine that has been modified to better target the Beta variant, first identified in South Africa, which is the variant that most worries vaccinologists for its immune-escape potential.
    (Production: Natalie Thomas)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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