Prognosis
Astra Covid Shot Still Useful in Variant-Hit Areas, WHO Says
- Vaccine could still provide protection against severe disease
- South Africa paused shot’s rollout amid questions on variant
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AstraZeneca Plc’s Covid-19 vaccine is worth using in areas hit by mutated strains of the virus, World Health Organization officials and partners said, countering concerns about reduced effectiveness that arose in a recent test.
There’s evidence the vaccine AstraZeneca developed with the University of Oxford could provide meaningful protection against severe disease caused by the highly infectious variant that emerged in South Africa, called B.1.351, according to Kate O’Brien, who heads the WHO’s vaccination division. The global health agency is preparing to decide on an emergency-use listing for Astra-Oxford shots made in India and South Korea.