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Vaccine testing at the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca reached 90 percent efficiency by chance, thanks to a mistake that resulted in some participants receiving doses of socks, according to The Guardian.
On Monday, scientists revealed that the Oxford vaccine had an average efficacy of 70%, but could be up to 90% effective when given as a half dose followed by a full dose about a month later.
“The reason we administered the half dose was purely accidental,” explained Mene Pangalos, executive vice president of biopharmaceutical research and development at AstraZeneca.
When university researchers distributed the vaccine in late April, towards the start of the partnership between Oxford and AstraZeneca, they realized that side effects, such as fatigue, headache or arm pain, were milder than expected. “So we went back, checked and found we had half-received the vaccine,” Pangalos said.
Instead of restarting the study, the researchers decided to continue with the half dose and administer the full booster dose at the scheduled time.
About 3,000 people received half a dose and then a full dose four weeks later, with data showing that 90% were protected. In the largest group, which received two full doses even four weeks apart, the efficacy was 62%.
Scientists said they still haven’t been able to explain why the half dose offers more protection, one hypothesis being that it activates the immune system differently.
Sarah Gilbert, a professor at Oxford University, who led the research, said: ‘It may be that when you first give a small amount of the vaccine and then a lot, this is the best way to get the immune system into action. giving the strongest and most effective immune response “.
In turn, Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group and lead researcher of the study, added: “What we don’t know at the moment is whether this difference is in the quality or quantity of the immune response. And this is something we will investigate in the coming weeks ».
The vaccine has yet to be approved by the Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Agency, but it could be available in the coming weeks if authorization is granted.
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