New data from a study conducted in the United Kingdom show that AstraZeneca's vaccine offers effective protection against the Delta variant of the Covid-19 virus, also known as the B.1.617.2 strain that was first detected in India, the company said yesterday.
Data from Public Health England (PHE), showed that two doses of the vaccine are 92% effective in preventing hospitalisations caused by the Delta variant, noting no deaths from the strain were reported among those who have completed their rounds.
Similarly, it said, the vaccine prevented hospitalisations from the Alpha strain, also known as the UK variant or the B.1.1.7 mutation, by 86%, adding the strain caused no deaths among those who have completed their inoculations.
The data suggest that vaccine effectiveness against milder symptomatic disease, although significant, was lower. Vaccine effectiveness against symptomatic disease was 74% against the Alpha variant and 64% against the Delta variant.
