As­traZeneca, Ox­ford on the de­fen­sive as skep­tics dis­miss 70% av­er­age ef­fi­ca­cy for Covid-19 vac­cine

On the third straight Mon­day that the world wakes up to pos­i­tive vac­cine news, As­traZeneca and Ox­ford are de­clar­ing a new Phase III mile­stone in the fight against the pan­dem­ic. Not every­one is con­vinced they will play a big part, though.

With an av­er­age ef­fi­ca­cy of 70%, the head­line num­ber struck an­a­lysts as less im­pres­sive than the 95% and 94.5% pro­tec­tion that Pfiz­er/BioN­Tech and Mod­er­na have boast­ed in the past two weeks, re­spec­tive­ly. But the British part­ners say they have sev­er­al oth­er bright spots go­ing for their can­di­date. One of the two dos­ing reg­i­mens test­ed in Phase III showed a bet­ter pro­file, bring­ing ef­fi­ca­cy up to 90%; the ade­n­ovirus vec­tor-based vac­cine re­quires min­i­mal re­frig­er­a­tion, which may mean eas­i­er dis­tri­b­u­tion; and As­traZeneca has pledged to sell it at a frac­tion of the price that the oth­er two vac­cine de­vel­op­ers are charg­ing.

Unlock this article instantly by becoming a free subscriber.

You’ll get access to free articles each month, plus you can customize what newsletters get delivered to your inbox each week, including breaking news.

SIGN UP LOG IN BECOME A PREMIUM SUBSCRIBER