![]() ![]() Are new jabs expected to come online soon? “Any vaccine supply that we have to achieve our target of vaccinating all adults is to be welcomed,” said Paul Hunter, a professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia. Given vaccine supply hiccups have already occurred and more will likely crop up, any additional shots are beneficial. The UK has ordered more than 400m doses of seven different vaccines, including 100m from AstraZeneca, 40m from Pfizer, and 17m from Moderna. The Oxford vaccine is not for profit, and is priced at £3 ($4) a dose. Cost is another differentiator: last year Moderna said it was charging $32 (£24) to $37 a dose and defended its right to make a profit. Moderna’s vaccine is relatively easy to store: it is stable for 30 days at normal fridge temperatures, but should it need to be stored for longer it can last for six months at -20C. However, that lower efficacy is arguably offset by its storage advantage – the Oxford jab can be kept at normal fridge temperatures, making it particularly useful in places that do not have the ultra-cold freezers operating at -70C to -80C that are necessary to store the Pfizer vaccine. In a pooled analysis of trials in the UK and Brazil, the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine had 70% efficacy overall, while in a US trial the vaccine demonstrated 76% efficacy. The two mRNA vaccines are relatively similar in terms of preventing symptomatic Covid-19: the Pfizer shot has a 95% efficacy rate. In the clinical trial setting, all three vaccines authorised in the UK were 100% effective in preventing hospitalisations and death. How does it fare against other authorised vaccines? Thirty experienced severe disease and one person died, but none of these had the Moderna shot. In the US clinical trial half the participants were given the jab, while the remainder got the placebo. ![]()
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