"CoviShield can be 90% effective": Serum Institute of India

AstraZeneca on Monday informed that its vaccine for the COVID-19 could be around 90% effective without any serious side effects. The combined analysis from both dosing regimens resulted in an average efficacy of 70%.

According to data from the late-stage trials in Britain and Brazil, The vaccine developed by Oxford University was 90% effective in preventing COVID-19 when it was administered as a half dose followed by a full dose at least one month apart.

"This vaccine's efficacy and safety confirm that it will be highly effective against COVID-19 and will have an immediate impact on this public health emergency," Pascal Soriot, Astra's chief executive, said in a statement.

The Serum Institute of India, the world's largest manufacturer of vaccines by volume, has partnered with AstraZeneca, the Gates Foundation and the Gavi vaccine alliance to produce more than a billion doses of a COVID-19 vaccine for global supply.

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CEO and Owner, Serum Institute of India Adar Poonawalla tweeted, “I am delighted to hear that, Covishield, a low-cost, logistically manageable & soon to be widely available, #COVID19 vaccine, will offer protection up to 90% in one type of dosage regime and 62% in the other dosage regime. Further details on this, will be provided this evening.”

AstraZeneca will have 200 million doses by the end of 2020, with 700 million doses ready globally by the end of the first quarter of 2021, operations executive Pam Cheng said on Monday.

The vaccine's effectiveness depended on the dosing, and fell to just 62% when given as two full doses rather than a half-dose first. But scientists cautioned against seeing this as evidence that it would be less useful than rival vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, which each prevented about 95% of cases according to interim data from their late-stage trials.

Unlike the drugs from Pfizer and Moderna which have to be stored frozen, AstraZeneca's vaccine can also be distributed more easily because it can be kept at refrigerator temperature. That would make the AstraZeneca shot easier to transport and store globally, particularly in lower and middle-income countries.

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