BackNew data shows one dose of Oxford vaccine reduces hospitalization risk
The results add to other early findings from studies of vaccine roll-outs in Israel, Scotland and England, which have also pointed to high effectiveness from the first doses
PremiumA single dose of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines are highly effective in preventing hospitalisation due to Covid-19 among people aged 80 years and above, interim data from a UK study showed on Wednesday.
In addition to this, both vaccines are found to be highly effective in preventing symptomatic Covid-19 infections among the elderly aged 70 and above.
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The findings are from an ongoing surveillance project funded by Pfizer and known as AvonCAP.
The data suggest that one dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech shot, which began to be used in Britain on 8 December last year, was 71.4% effective from 14 days at preventing symptomatic illness severe enough to result in hospitalisation among patients with a median age of 87 years.
For the AstraZeneca vaccine, which began to be rolled out in Britain on 4 January, the results showed it was 80.4% effective by the same measures among patients with an average age of 88.
"These early results show the UK Covid-19 vaccine programme is working better than we could have hoped," said Adam Finn, a professor of paediatrics and chief investigator of the AvonCAP study at the Britain's University of Bristol.
He said the findings showed how the vaccines can reduce the burden of serious Covid-19 in elderly, high-risk populations, and relieve pressure on health services.
The results add to other early findings from studies of vaccine roll-outs in Israel, Scotland and England, which have also pointed to high effectiveness from the first doses.
A UK study among healthcare staff found last week that a single dose of Pfizer' vaccine cut the number of asymptomatic infections by about 75%, which would significantly reduce the risk of transmission of the virus.
A study in Israel, which last week confirmed the efficacy of well over 90% for Pfizer's two-shot vaccine, also showed a single shot was 57% effective in protecting against symptomatic infections after two weeks.
However, public health official Mary Ramsay cautioned that the data on the transmission of viruses by the vaccinated population has not been obtained yet.
"It is important to remember that protection is not complete and we do not yet know how much these vaccines will reduce the risk of you passing Covid-19 onto others," said Ramsay.
“Even if you have been vaccinated, it is really important that you continue to act like you have the virus, practise good hand hygiene and stay at home," Ramsay added.
With inputs from agencies.
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