But the vaccine appeared far less effective against a new variant of the coronavirus that was first identified in South Africa.
t.co
Covid-19 vaccine from Novavax proved nearly 90% effective in preliminary results from a key clinical trial in the United Kingdom, the company said, but in a separate trial appeared far less effective against a
new variant of the coronavirus that was first identified in South Africa.
In its 15,000-volunteer U.K. trial, Novavax said, the vaccine prevented nine in 10 cases, including against a new strain of the virus that is circulating there. But in a 4,400-volunteer study in South Africa, the vaccine proved only 49% effective. In the 94% of the study population that did not have HIV, the efficacy was 60%.
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It’s unclear whether these data will be enough for U.S. approval, or if the U.S. will wait for further data, as it appears to be doing with vaccines developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University. Novavax said it will discuss the findings with the U.K. regulators but made no mention of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Operation Warp Speed, the U.S. government’s vaccine incubator, is running its own large U.S. trial of the Novavax vaccine.
“It is close to 90% efficacy and it shows efficacy against the U.K. and the South African variants. I think these are very positive results,” said Carlos del Rio, a professor of infectious diseases at the Emory University School of Medicine.
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