Brazilian coronavirus variant 'is a concern' to UK says expert
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Public Health England (PHE) submitted a pre-print report on March 1 - yet to be peer reviewed - into the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccination. Analysing data post-injection, here are the results. Over 7.5 million people, aged 70 and older, were involved in the coronavirus analysis. Since January, the results showed that the Oxford-AstraZeneca provided slightly more protection from symptomatic Covid than the Pfizer-BioNTech jab.
In the over 70s, four weeks since the first dose of an Oxford-AstraZeneca jab, protection was measured between 60 to 63 percent.
For the same age group, in the same time scale, protection levels were between 57 to 61percent.
Both vaccinations were regarded to be "highly effective" in reducing Covid infections among older people aged 70 and over.
In the over 80s, data suggests that a single dose of either vaccine is "more than 80percent effective at preventing hospitalisation, around three to four weeks after the jab".
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Evidence for the Pfizer vaccine demonstrates that it can lead to a 83 percent reduction in deaths from Covid.
Dr Mary Ramsay, PHE Head of Immunisation, said: "This adds to growing evidence showing that the vaccines are working to reduce infections and save lives.
"While there remains much more data to follow, this is encouraging and we are increasingly confident that vaccines are making a real difference."
However, Dr Ramsay cautioned that "protection is not complete", with data not yet available on how effective vaccinations are at limiting the spread of the disease.
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"Even if you have been vaccinated, it is really important that you continue to act like you have the virus, practise good hand hygiene and stay at home," added Dr Ramsay.
From this week forward, the NHS is administering second doses to those first vaccinated.
Having the second Covid jab will provide higher and longer lasting protection.
As of March 1, there have been 844,098 people who have received their second Covid jab.
© ExpressThe UK Covid vaccines
The great vaccination programme should be reassuring to those who may be concerned about the Brazil variant of concern most recently identified in the UK.
PHE said there has been up to three cases of the Brazilian variant of concern within England, and three cases in Scotland.
First identified in Manaus, Brazil, the P.1 variant shares important mutations with the South African strain - E484K and N501Y.
"It is possible that this variant may respond less well to current vaccines, but more work is needed to understand this," said PHE.
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Two cases of the P.1 variant of concern were identified in one household in South Gloucestershire.
The PHE Health Protection Team have been in contact with the affected individuals.
PHE and NHS Test and Trace are following up with all passengers on Swiss Air flight LX318 travelling from Sao Paulo via Zurich and landing in London Heathrow on 10 February to test for the Covid variant.
If you were a passenger on the flight and have not been contacted, please call 01174 503 174 to arrange a test for you and your household contacts.