RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Preliminary data from a study conducted at Oxford University indicate that the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca PLC is effective against the P1 or Brazilian variant, a well-known source in the study told Reuters on Friday.
The data indicate that the vaccine will not have to be modified to protect against the variant, which is believed to have originated in the Amazonian city of Manaus, said the source, who requested anonymity because the results have not yet been made public.
The source did not provide the exact efficacy of the variant vaccine. They said the full results of the study should be published soon, possibly in March.
Early results indicated that the AstraZeneca vaccine was less effective against the South African variant, which is similar to P1. South Africa subsequently discontinued vaccine use in the country.
The information comes as a small-sample study suggests that the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Sinovac in China may not work effectively against the Brazilian variant.
As a request for comment, Fiocruz, who sent the samples that formed the basis of the study, told Reuters that he had no information about the study, being led by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford.
Representatives for AstraZeneca and Oxford University did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Brazil is currently facing a second brutal and long-lasting wave of coronavirus, reaching a daily record of 1,910 deaths on Wednesday.
Variant P1 is one of the factors that epidemiologists believe contributes to an increase in cases and deaths, and there has been concern in the scientific community about the resistance of the variant to vaccines.
Reporting by Rodrigo Viga Gaier; Writing by Gram Slattery; Montage by Hugh Lawson