RIO DE JANEIRO: Preliminary data from a study conducted at the University of Oxford indicates that the Covid-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca PLC is effective against the P1, or Brazilian variant, a source with knowledge of the study said on Friday. The data indicates that the vaccine will not need to be modified in order to protect against the variant, which is believed to have originated in the Amazonian city of Manaus, said the source, who requested anonymity as the results have not yet been made public.
The source did not provide the exact efficacy of the vaccine against the variant. They said the full results of the study should be released soon, possibly in March. Responding to a request for comment, Fiocruz, which sent the samples that formed the basis of the study, told Reuters it did not have any information on the study, as it was being led by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford. Representatives for AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Brazil is confronting a brutal second wave of the coronavirus, hitting a daily record of 1,910 deaths on Wednesday. The P1 variant is among the factors that epidemiologists believe is causing rise in cases and deaths, and there is concern in the scientific community about its resistance to vaccines.