Study: AstraZeneca Less Effective against COVID-19 South Africa's Variant

The leading Financial Times posted on Sunday the results of a new study about the efficiency of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine on the new mutated COVID-19 strains such as the South Africa variant.

The study showed that Oxford/AstraZeneca didn't appear to offer protection against mild and moderate infections caused by COVID-19 South Africa's strain.

Clinical trials revealed that AstraZeneca's efficiency reduced against the 501Y.V2 viral variant which is dominant in South Africa.

On the other hand, all Covid-19 vaccines so far managed to show efficiency against the B.1.1.7 variant that emerged in the UK, that's why the variant of South Africa aroused the concerns of the researchers.

Johnson & Johnson and Novavax revealed that their vaccines were less effective against the strain in clinical trials conducted in South Africa. In trials, both vaccines offered complete protection against severe disease and death in relation to Covid-19, according to FT.