Two doses of Pfizer or AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine are nearly as effective against the highly transmissible Delta coronavirus variant as they are against the previously dominant Alpha variant, a study published on Wednesday showed.
The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, confirms headline findings given by Public Health England in May about the efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca, based on real-world data.
Two shots of AstraZeneca vaccine were 67% effective against the Delta variant, up from 60% originally reported, and 74.5% effective against the Alpha variant, compared to an original estimate of 66% effectiveness. Data from Israel has estimated lower effectiveness of Pfizer's shot against symptomatic disease, though protection against severe disease remains high.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Two doses of Pfizer, AstraZeneca shots effective against Delta variant, study findsOfficials say vaccines are highly effective against the Delta variant, now the dominant variant worldwide, though the study reiterated that one shot of the vaccines is not enough for high protection.
Read more »
Delta to be dominant Covid-19 variant within months, says WHOThe highly contagious Delta variant of Covid-19 - which has been recorded in 124 territories to date - is expected to become the dominant strain of the virus over the coming months, the World Health Organization said.
Read more »
Researchers sceptical about J&J jab’s ability to guard against DeltaThey say it produced lower levels of antibodies against the strain compared with others, but J&J disputes this
Read more »
Delta variant behind more than 80% of new US cases, says Anthony FauciSenator spars with US infectious diseases expert Fauci over origins of coronavirus as hearing told US daily death toll up nearly 48%
Read more »
Two Durban students die in unrest as another kills herself after hearing of the deathsTwo DUT students died in last week's violent unrest, the institution confirmed on Wednesday. A third student committed suicide after hearing the news.
Read more »
Cops nab two 'most wanted' for terrorising Tshwane communitiesTwo men linked to several cases of murder, house robberies and business robberies were arrested in Cosmo City, Johannesburg, on Tuesday after they were found with unlicensed firearms loaded with ammunition.
Read more »