AstraZeneca Covid-19 shot candidate shows promise among elderly in trials

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) could produce a scientific opinion on COVID-19 vaccines seeking regulatory approval by the end of the year in a best case scenario, the regulator's new chief was quoted as saying on Tuesday. The global battle to secure prospective supplies has raised alarm about equitable access, while questions remain over logistics, distribution, and cost. And there were no serious safety issues relating to the vaccine, called ChAdOx1 nCov-2019.

Furthermore, the team found that the vaccine was less likely to cause local reactions at the injection site and symptoms on the day of vaccination in older adults than in the younger group, demonstrating that assessment of the efficacy of the vaccine is warranted in all age groups. Scientists expect T-cell responses to play a role in long-term immunity against the virus. "These findings are encouraging because older individuals are at disproportionate risk of severe Covid-19 and so any vaccine adopted for use against SARS-CoV-2 [Covid-19] must be effective in older adults", the researchers note.

"We hope that this means our vaccine will help to protect some of the most vulnerable people in society, but further research will be needed before we can be sure".

Three vaccines - Pfizer-BioNTech, Sputnik and Moderna - have already reported good preliminary data from phase three trials, with one suggesting 94 per cent of over-65s could be protected from Covid-19.

Results are expected later this year depending on the rate of infection within clinical trial communities. These included people of all ages.

No adverse health problems were reported during the trials.

The race for the coronavirus vaccine has picked up pace in recent weeks with Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna announcing the results of phase 3 trials.

BNT162b2 vaccine is 95 percent effective against COVID-19, finds final efficacy analysis...