Data from a UK phase 2/3 clinical trial suggest the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-vaccine is 70.4% effective against symptomatic COVID-19 caused by the B117 variant, which was identified in the United Kingdom in late 2020.The data, published in The Lancet yesterday, also showed it was 28.9% effective at preventing asymptomatic infections or cases with unknown symptoms.Overall efficacy was 61.7% against the B117 variant and 77.3% against other variants, according to the study.
The vaccine was 81.5% effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 caused by non-B117 strains.In a Lancet commentary, Rogier W.
Sanders, PhD, and Menno D. de Jong, MD, PhD, of Amsterdam University Medical Centers, write, "Given the wide CIs [confidence intervals] in these