Oxford University’s COVID-19 vaccine is 70% effective — but cheapest so far

The University of Oxford and AstraZeneca say their COVID-19 vaccine gives 70 percent protection against the disease.

Oxford’s announcement comes less than a month after Pfizer and BioNTech said that they had developed a vaccine that is 95 percent effective in preventing COVID-19.

Unlike the Pfizer vaccine which needs to be stored at 70 degrees celsius, the Oxford vaccine can be stored at 2-8 °C, making distribution and storage easier.

The efficacy of the vaccine was determined after a large-scale trial involving 20,000 volunteers.

The researchers said the vaccine can be up to 90 percent effective when subjects are given a low dose followed by a high one.

A total of 2,741 people were on the course that proved 90 percent effective, while 8,895 were given two full doses.

Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford vaccine group and chief investigator of the Oxford vaccine trial, said: “These findings show that we have an effective vaccine that will save many lives. Excitingly, we’ve found that one of our dosing regimens may be around 90% effective and if this dosing regime is used, more people could be vaccinated with planned vaccine supply.”