New vaccine is ‘effective against UK COVID-19 strain’

Novavax, a new vaccine, has been shown to be 89.3 percent effective against COVID-19 in large-scale trials in the United Kingdom.

According to the BBC, the Novavax vaccine (NVX-CoV2373) is the first to show effectiveness against the new COVID-19 variant found in the UK.

The trial involved more than 15,000 people aged between 18 and 84 — and with 27 percent aged over 65.

Also, an early-stage study in South Africa was carried out on 4,400 people including volunteers with HIV.

The result of the trial in the country, where most of the cases are the new variant of the virus, showed that the vaccine was 60 percent effective among those without HIV while for immune-compromised volunteers, it offered 49 percent protection.

Stan Erck, chief executive of Novavax, was quoted as saying the results from the UK trial were “spectacular” and “as good as we could have hoped”, while the efficacy in South Africa was “above people’s expectations”.

He reportedly said the manufacturing plant in Stockton-on-Tees should be up and running by March or April while hoping to get approval for the vaccine from the Medicine and Health products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) around the same time.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in a tweet on Thursday, welcomed the “good news” and said the UK’s medicines regulator would now assess the vaccine.

He said the UK has ordered 60 million doses of the vaccine. If approved, the doses are expected to be delivered in the second half of the year.

“Good news that the Novavax vaccine has proved effective in UK trials. Thank you to all the volunteers who made these results possible,” he tweeted.

“Our medicines regulator will now assess the vaccine, which will be made in Teesside. If approved, we have 60m doses on order.”

Good news that the @Novavax vaccine has proved effective in UK trials. Thank you to all the volunteers who made these results possible.

Our medicines regulator will now assess the vaccine, which will be made in Teesside. If approved, we have 60m doses on order.

— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) January 28, 2021

Paul Heath, chief investigator of the UK Novavax trial, said: “These are enormously exciting findings and show that this is a highly effective and safe Covid-19 vaccine – importantly it also shows that this is a vaccine that is effective against the UK variant that has spread so quickly.”

Matt Hancock, UK health secretary, also said the National Health Service (NHS) is ready to roll out the vaccine if approved.

“This is positive news and, if approved by the medicines regulator, the Novavax vaccine will be a significant boost to our vaccination programme and another weapon in our arsenal to beat this awful virus,” Hancock said.

“I’m proud the UK is at the forefront of another medical breakthrough and I want to thank the brilliant scientists and researchers, as well as the tens of thousands of selfless volunteers who took part in clinical trials.”

So far, three vaccines– Pfizer, Oxford/AztraZeneca, and Morderna– have been approved for emergency use in the UK.