UK Edition
The public can have confidence in the Oxford jab despite evidence that it is less effective against the South Africa variant of coronavirus, the vaccines minister says.
Writing in The Telegraph, Nadhim Zahawi says the vaccines being used in Britain “work well against the Covid-19 variants currently dominant in the UK”.
It follows an announcement on Sunday of new findings that show the Oxford University-AstraZeneca jab does not protect against mild and moderate infection of the South African variant.
South Africa announced on Sunday it is putting its AstraZeneca programme on hold because of its poor efficacy against the variant which emerged in the country. Its health minister suggested it was only 22 per cent effective against the variant.
A new Oxford vaccine that can beat the South African variant is likely to be ready by autumn, its designers have said.
It comes amid concern over reluctance to get the vaccine among black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities. Royal College of General Practitioners figures show that 14.4 per cent of white people have had the jab compared to 6.8 per cent of black people.
In the coming weeks the Government will set out its plans to increase take up in those groups.
More than 12 million people have now received their first dose of the vaccine, with almost 1,000 jabs per hour administered at one point over the weekend. The Government is on course to beat its target of offering the vaccine to all over-70s and clinically vulnerable people by Feb 15.
Another 373 deaths were reported on Sunday, the lowest figure since December, as deaths, infections and hospitalisations continue to trend downwards.
It also comes as ministers believe employers can insist that all of their staff get vaccinated against Covid under laws governing health and safety at work.
The idea of 'vaccine passports' - which would allow employers to insist upon proof of vaccination - have been dismissed as "discriminatory" by the Government, but the Telegraph understands that the issue is at the centre of a row in Cabinet with some ministers arguing in favour of the scheme.
A collaboration between Oxford and the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa found that viral neutralisation by sera induced by the AstraZeneca jab was “substantially reduced” against the B.1.351 South Africa variant compared to the original Covid strain.
The study, conducted on approximately 2,000 volunteers with an average age of 31, could not determine whether the current AZ vaccine prevents serious disease and death from B.1.351.
However, Oxford scientists said it is likely to do so. They pointed to a recent study in South African by Janseen using a similar vaccine technology which indicated that protection against severe disease was preserved.
Mr Zahawi described the emergence of new variants of Covid as “worrying”, but said: “We should bear in mind that recent studies show the vaccines being deployed right now across the UK appear to work well against the Covid-19 variants currently dominant in the UK.
“In terms of other variants, not in the UK, we need to be aware that even where a vaccine has reduced efficacy in preventing infection there may still be good efficacy against severe disease, hospitalisation, and death. This is vitally important for protecting the healthcare system.”
A tweaked version of the “workhorse” AstraZeneca vaccine is currently under development, and could be rolled out with only a fraction of the regulatory hurdles seen for the first jab.
The team at Oxford’s Jenner Institute said they are also in the preliminary stages of preparing a version to combat the Brazilian variant, should one be required.
Professor Sarah Gilbert, who designed the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, told the BBC’s Andrew Marr show: “We have a version with the South African spike sequence in the works. It’s not quite ready to vaccinate people yet.
“It’s easy to adapt the technology, develop a new vaccine which will have to go through a small amount of clinical testing, not nearly the same amount as we had to go through last year.”
She added: “We’re already working on the first part of the manufacturing process in Oxford.
“That will be passed on to other members of the manufacturing supply chain, as we go through the spring, and it looks very much likely that we can have a new version ready to use in the autumn.”
Mr Zahawi added that he and Prof Jonathan Van-Tam, the deputy chief medical officer, believed annual vaccines or a "booster in the autumn" could be required to combat variants.
Professor Shabir Madhi, chief investigator of the trial in South Africa at the University of the Witwatersrand, said the new results should prompt a change in strategy.
“These findings recalibrate thinking about how to approach the pandemic virus and shift the focus from the goal of herd immunity against transmission to the protection of all at risk individuals in [the] population against severe disease,” he said.
This follows publication of different results last Tuesday indicating that the Oxford jab prevents two-thirds of Covid transmissions of the original strain, and 100 per cent of hospitalisations, from 22 days after the first jab.
Ministers recognise that the disease will not be defeated through a single vaccine drive, but rather kept at bay through the delivery of a series of tweaked jabs to combat emerging variants.
Professor Gilbert said this could be done rapidly with only a minimum amount of clinical testing, making use of protocols used by the flu vaccination programme, known as strain change, which sees new versions of the jab rolled out each autumn.
One million doses of the AZ jab arrived in South Africa last week for health workers.
"We shall hold on to it, this is temporary, until we know what steps to do next,” said the country’s health minister, Zweli Mkhize.
He said: “AstraZeneca had promising results and availability. The vaccine is only 22 per cent effective against the new variant.”
The NHS vaccinated nearly 1,000 people a minute for an hour on Saturday, Mr Zahawi said, as under-70s begin to come forward to receive their jab.
Between 11am and midday on Saturday, the NHS vaccinated 979 people a minute, making him “confident” that everyone in high-priority groups will be offered a jab by May.
Officially, the Government has committed to offering a first dose by February 15 to the top four priority groups, comprising care home residents and staff, people aged 80 and over and frontline health and social care staff, those aged 75 and over, and people aged 70 and over along with anyone clinically extremely vulnerable over the age of 16.
However, the Telegraph revealed last week that people in their late 60s had already received letters asking them to book an appointment.
On Sunday the author Sebastian Faulks, 67, became the latest person in their sixties to announce that he had received a jab, tweeting that he had been offered one from his local surgery “even though I’m in wrong age group”.
In contrast to earlier in the rollout, Downing Street is content to allow parts of the country which have moved through the priority groups more quickly to continue at their own pace.
The seven-day rolling average of first doses given in the UK is now 433,8571.
Based on the latest figures, an average of 373,214 first doses of vaccine would be needed each day in order to meet the Government's target of 15 million first doses by February 15.