AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot said on Sunday that the British pharmaceutical company’s vaccine was believed to be effective against the new coronavirus strain detected in the UK
“So far, we believe that the vaccine should remain effective. But we can’t be sure, so we will test this “, said Soriot when asked how the vaccine could resist the new variant of the virus.
The Associated Press reports that Soriot told the Sunday Times that researchers for AstraZeneca have discovered a “winning formula” to make his formula as effective as Pfizer or Moderna, both of which have already been approved. The AstraZeneca vaccine is expected to be approved this week, the AP notes.
“We think we’ve discovered the winning formula and how to get the effectiveness that, after two doses, is up there with everyone else,” Soriot said.
The AstraZeneca vaccine, developed in partnership with Oxford University, was not initially thought to be as effective as its American counterparts, with partial results suggesting that it is 70% effective in preventing disease, the AP reports.
This new strain of the virus has raised alarm around the world, with many countries restricting or banning travel to the UK. The variant is thought to be much more contagious than the pre-existing strain of coronavirus, although it is not thought to be more lethal or cause more severe symptoms.
Moderna said last week that it also believes its vaccine could effectively protect people against the new strain.
A key difference in the AstraZeneca vaccine is that, unlike the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, it is not an mRNA vaccine. These vaccines teach the immune systems how to create certain proteins that then trigger an immune response without introducing the actual virus into the body, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention..
The AstraZeneca vaccine uses a weakened version of the virus itself to teach the immune system how to protect it.
The United Kingdom was the first Western country to approve a coronavirus vaccine, approving the Pfizer vaccine in early December. As of December 24, more than 600,000 have been vaccinated in the United Kingdom, reports AP.