"This means we have a vaccine for the world," said Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford University vaccine group that developed the drug. The success rate rose to 90% if the vaccine was administered as a half dose followed by a full dose. The AstraZeneca vaccine does have advantages. The AstraZeneca vaccine uses a modified version of a chimpanzee cold virus to deliver instructions to cells to fight the target virus, a different approach from Pfizer and Moderna, which rely on new technology known as messenger RNA (mRNA). AstraZeneca will now prepare regulatory submission of the data to authorities around the world with a framework for conditional or early approval.

Source: Otago Daily Times November 23, 2020 19:07 UTC