London “One of the most powerful weapons against the worrying number of us.” coronavirus variants in the United States and around the world may be a vaccine that the FDA has not yet approved.
Earlier this month, the World Health Organization launched the campaign for Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to be used internationally and is already distributed in countries around the world to help combat COVID-19. However, AstraZeneca is awaiting the results of clinical trials in America, which it expects to complete in the coming weeks, before applying to the FDA.
Meanwhile, backed by the fact that their vaccine is relatively easy to update, scientists at Oxford University in the UK are changing it into a preventive strike to prevent the emergence of new variants of coronavirus, including the first discovered in Africa. South.
“Connect and use”
The chief designer, Professor Sarah Gilbert, told CBS News that his team has been working for months to modify the vaccine to address new variants of the coronavirus and expects to have a new version ready in the fall.
The ability to raise money depends on the “plug and play” platform used in the original Oxford vaccine, Gilbert said.
“You decide what antigen you want to use from the virus you want to get a vaccine against, exactly what version of it, then you just put it in and get your vaccine,” she said.
She also pointed out that because Oxford has its own biofabrication unit on campus, changes can be accelerated.
“We’ve set our pipe,” she said. “We’re producing the first stock vaccine seed at the Oxford production facility. It’s just minutes from here on campus.”
Gilbert said a modified vaccine – considering not only the South African version but also a number of concerns – could be launched in the United States in a few months.
“Amazing” impact
Even before the change, Oxford scientists say their vaccine is extremely effective in addressing the runaway variant first discovered in the UK. Preliminary real-life data show that it kept hospitalizations down by 94%, even surpassing the Pfizer vaccine.
“We saw the first widespread use of a vaccine in a new environment,” Andrew Pollard, head of the Oxford Vaccine Group, told CBS News. “The vaccine has an impact against this variant. This is amazing.”
Part of the reason for this success is the 12-week gap between photos in the UK, rather than the standard four-week program currently in the US, Pollard said.
“If you give the vaccine to many, many more people as a first dose, it puts an end to hospitalization and death immediately, while if you give two doses close to each other, you will selfishly give these two doses to half the number of people, slowing down. reducing that implementation and protecting the population, “Pollard said.
With more than 500,000 dead people In the US, and new variants continue to appear, the need to launch more photos faster has never been greater.