Study Shows AstraZeneca Vaccine Effective As Third Booster Dose

The COVID-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca Plc and the University of Oxford is effective as a third booster dose, having increased their antibodies against protein S among study participants – the so-called spike protein in Spanish – as reported by the Financial Times on Wednesday.

The news comes at a time when vaccine manufacturers warn that the world will need annual booster shots, or new vaccines, to deal with the virus variants, although some scientists wonder if such injections are necessary.

The newspaper quoted a person familiar with the results of the study, according to which it shows that the reaction of antibodies to the booster vaccine is “strong enough against any variant” and clears fears that adenoviruses can no longer be used. at once.

AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the Oxford study, which has yet to be published.

The vaccine uses a new technology that uses a modified version of the adenovirus, which causes the common cold, as vectors to transport instructions to human cells.

This design has raised concerns among scientists that the doses may lose potency if annual injections are needed to combat new variants.

It is not known when Oxford and AstraZeneca plan to release the study data, the paper adds.

The European Union this month signed a new contract for 1.8 billion doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to cover booster doses.