Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
AstraZeneca and University Oxford start doing new trials to test efficacy booster in the form of a modified vaccine against corona virus Beta variant, Sunday (27/6).
This booster vaccine is named AZD2816 which has been modified to be able to ward off severe symptoms of Covid-19 due to infection with the Beta variant of the corona virus. Beta variant itself first appeared in South Africa.
The booster vaccine trial will involve around 2,250 participants from the UK, South Africa, Brazil and Poland.
The volunteers consisted of those who had been fully immunized with two injections of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine or an mRNA vaccine such as Pfizer. While the second group is volunteers who have not received injections at all.
Booster the vaccine is designed on the same basis as the main AstraZeneca vaccine. But the researchers made a slight genetic change to the spike protein adapted to the Beta variant.
‘Test injection’booster‘ Existing vaccines and vaccines for new variants are important to ensure that we are one step ahead of the coronavirus pandemic, should their use be necessary,” said Andrew Pollard, chief investigator and director of the Oxford Vaccine Group at the University of Oxford.
The UK has successfully vaccinated citizens, but experts do not know how long the protection will last.
“This study will provide important evidence as to whether additional doses of ‘pecking’ (vaccines) against new viral variants may be necessary in the future,” said Maheshi Ramasamy, Principal Investigator at the Oxford Vaccine Group.
Preliminary data from the trial is expected later this year.
With the emergence of various new variants of the corona virus, some believe that the vaccine currently given is less effective at preventing severe symptoms from the Beta variant.
However, currently it is the Delta variant of the corona virus that is worrying the world. This variant first appeared in India.
Although the primary vaccine is believed to be highly effective in preventing serious disease, the infectious nature of the Delta variant has caused a spike in cases in several countries, including the UK to Indonesia.
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