A coronavirus vaccine developed by Oxford University and UK-based drugmaker AstraZeneca fails to prevent mild and moderate cases of the South African strain, researchers at the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg said, Sunday.
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Yet in a paper due to be published on Monday, AstraZeneca said none of the 2,000 participants developed serious symptoms.
The data, which has not yet undergone peer review "appear to confirm the theoretical observation that mutations in the virus seen in South Africa will allow ongoing transmission of the virus in vaccinated populations," it said.
"We may not be reducing the total number of cases but there is still protection against deaths, hospitalizations, and severe disease," said Sarah Gilbert, who led the development of the vaccine with the Oxford Vaccine Group. Researchers are currently working to update the vaccine to cope with the South African variant, she said.
