Covid-19: The Novavax vaccine shows 89% efficacy in UK trials

 

The novel coronavirus vaccine has been shown to be 89.3% effective in large-scale UK trials.

The Novavax vaccine shows 89% efficacy

BBC medical editor Fergus Walsh said the Novavax attack was the first to be shown in trials to be effective against the new virus type found in the UK.

The prime minister welcomed the "good news" and said the UK Medicines Regulatory Authority will now evaluate the vaccine.

The UK has received 60 million doses of the vaccine, which will be manufactured in Stockton-on-Tees in the north-east of England.

The government said the doses are expected to be delivered during the latter half of this year, if approved for use by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority (MHRA).

The UK has so far approved three coronavirus vaccines for emergency use - one from the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca, one from Pfizer and Biotech, and one from our Moderne.

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The Novavax jab dose, given in two doses, has been shown to be 89.3% effective in preventing Covid-19 in participants in Phase 3 clinical trials within the UK, and approximately 86% effective in protecting against the new British variant.

Novavax said its Phase III trials - the last phase before the vaccine was examined by the regulator - involved more than 15,000 people between the ages of 18 and 84, of whom 27% were over 65.

In the South African part of the trial, where most cases were the South African variant of the virus, the vaccine was 60% effective among those without HIV.

Novavax CEO Stan Erk said the results of the UK trial were "amazing" and "as good as we had hoped", while the effectiveness in South Africa was "above people's expectations".

He told the BBC that the plant in Stockton-on-Tees should be operational by March or April, and the company hopes to get approval for the vaccine from the Ministry of Public Health around the same time.

Minister Lucy Fraser told the BBC's Breakfast that the government could not set a specific timeframe for when to approve the Novavax strike because the regulation process was "beyond our control".

But the minister of prisons added that the NHS would be "ready to distribute [the stab] into the arms of the people" as soon as supplies are available.

Health Minister Matt Hancock said that the new vaccine would be "another weapon in our arsenal to overcome this horrific virus", if approved.

He thanked the researchers and volunteers who had participated in the trials and added: "I am proud that the UK is at the forefront of another medical breakthrough."

Professor Paul Heath, the lead researcher on the Novavax trial in the United Kingdom, said the results of the clinical trials were "very exciting", particularly because of the vaccine's effectiveness against the British variant.

Peter Openshaw, professor of experimental medicine at Imperial College London, said that the results that the vaccine gave high levels of protection in the UK portion of the trial were "excellent" but that the low level of protection seen in South Africa was a "concern".