Tag: oxford

Oxford-AstraZeneca Vaccine Doesn’t Require Supercold Temperature, And Is Cheaper Than Pfizer’s And Moderna’s
HEALTH & WELLNESS

Oxford-AstraZeneca Vaccine Doesn’t Require Supercold Temperature, And Is Cheaper Than Pfizer’s And Moderna’s

The biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca has released data on what is now the third promising vaccine candidate against COVID-19 – and it has several advantages over those of its competitors, Pfizer and Moderna. On Monday, AstraZeneca released interim analysis of its phase 3 trial data of 23,000 volunteers from the U.K. and Brazil. These results show that the test vaccine is between 70% and 90% effective in stopping COVID-19, depending on the vaccine doses administered. Although less effective than the reported results from the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine candidates, this vaccine is still more effective than annual influenza vaccines that reduce the risk of flu by between 40% and 60%. Notably none of the vaccinated participants needed hospitalizations or reported severe disease. ...
A Global Game Changer, The Oxford AstraZeneca Vaccine
COVID-19, HEALTH & WELLNESS

A Global Game Changer, The Oxford AstraZeneca Vaccine

In the long dark tunnel that has been 2020, November stands out as the month that light appeared. Some might see it as a bright light, others as a faint light – but it is unmistakably a light. On November 9, Pfizer announced the interim results of its candidate vaccine, showing it to be “more than 90% effective” in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 in late-stage human trials. The news was greeted with joy. A couple of days later, the Russian Direct Investment Fund announced that the candidate vaccine they are funding – dubbed Sputnik V – showed 92% efficacy in late-stage trials. Not to be outdone, Moderna then announced that its candidate vaccine showed 94.5% efficacy. The latest COVID-19 vaccine announcement comes from Oxford University. And, as with all of the above announcements, it ca...
Halting the Oxford vaccine trial doesn’t mean it’s not safe – it shows they’re following the right process
HEALTH & WELLNESS

Halting the Oxford vaccine trial doesn’t mean it’s not safe – it shows they’re following the right process

Only days after the federal government announced a A$1.7 billion vaccine deal to roll out COVID-19 vaccines to Australians in 2021, one of the two candidates has halted its phase 3 trials after a participant became ill. The AZD1222 vaccine, considered one of the frontrunners in the global race for a COVID-19 vaccine, was developed by the University of Oxford and has been undergoing testing with British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. Melbourne-based biotechnology company CSL has committed to producing and supplying more than 30 million doses of the vaccine to Australians if it’s found to be safe and effective. But this pause in the trials doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not safe. Rather, it indicates the testing is progressing as it should, with due consideration of safety. Wh...