A newly published expert review of real-world data demonstrates that AstraZeneca’s vaccine and mRNA COVID-19 vaccines provide equally effective protection against hospitalisation and death following two doses.1
The review, published by Expert Review of Vaccines, a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal, looks at the effectiveness of the world’s most-used COVID-19 vaccines from 79 real-world studies.
The data shows that both the AstraZeneca vaccine, a viral vector vaccine, and ‘mRNA’ COVID-19 vaccines, offer equivalent protection against hospitalisation (91.3%-92.5%) and death (91.4%-93.3%) regardless of age, with no statistical difference between them.1 While data available at the time of review relates to Delta and earlier variants, available statistics indicate similar findings on serious COVID-19 outcomes resulting from Omicron.2
Professor Guy Thwaites, Director of the Oxford Clinical Research Unit in Vietnam and one of the study’s authors, said: “The data reveals how the world’s most widely used vaccines protect people against the very worst outcomes from COVID-19. With the virus set to have a significant global impact for the foreseeable future, the new data serves as important information for the region’s policymakers as they put strategic plans in place for the continued protection of their populations.”
Mr James Teague, president of AstraZeneca (Thailand) Company Limited, said: “Vaccines have been crucial in saving lives and enabling countries in Southeast Asia to move from the most critical phase of the pandemic towards living with COVID-19. As governments consider the implications of the virus becoming endemic, the published data provides reassuring evidence that the ability of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, and the available mRNA vaccines, in preventing people from being hospitalised or dying is equivalent.”
The data, reviewed by infectious disease experts from across Asia, comes from VIEW-hub, an interactive platform for visualizing global data on vaccine use and impact developed by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the International Vaccine Access Center. The platform is updated on a weekly basis to include global real-world studies on vaccine effectiveness. The 79 real-world studies reviewed included comparative effectiveness data for AstraZeneca’s vaccine and mRNA vaccines, specifically BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273. The VIEW-hub platform is not currently designed to capture the safety outcomes of these studies, preventing similar safety comparisons.
AstraZeneca’s vaccine is a ‘viral vector’ vaccine, which means a version of a virus that cannot cause disease is used as part of the vaccine, so if the body is exposed to the real virus later it is able to fight it. This vaccine technology has been used by scientists over the past 40 years to fight other infectious diseases such as the flu, Zika, Ebola and HIV.3
AstraZeneca and its global partners have released over 3 billion vaccine doses to more than 180 countries, and approximately two-thirds of these doses have been delivered to low- and lower-middle income countries. Based on model outcomes assessing COVID-19, the AstraZeneca vaccine is estimated to have helped save over 6 million lives between 08 December 2020 and 08 December 2021. 4
Vaxzevria (ChAdOx1-S [Recombinant], formerly AZD1222)
AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine was invented by the University of Oxford. It uses a replication-deficient chimpanzee viral vector based on a weakened version of a common cold virus (adenovirus) that causes infections in chimpanzees and contains the genetic material of the SARS-CoV-2 virus spike protein. After vaccination, the surface spike protein is produced, priming the immune system to attack the SARS-CoV-2 virus if it later infects the body.
Vaxzevria is a ‘viral vector’ vaccine, which means a version of a virus that cannot cause disease is used as part of the vaccine, leaving the body knowing how to fight it if it is exposed to the real virus later. This vaccine technology has been used by scientists over the past 40 years to fight other infectious diseases such as the flu, Zika, Ebola and HIV.5
Vaxzevria has an acceptable safety profile, according to clinical studies and real-world evidence from tens of millions of people globally.6-12 Based on the millions of people vaccinated with Vaxzevria, very common adverse reactions reported included: headache, nausea, myalgia, arthralgia, injection site tenderness, pain, warmth, pruritus, bruising, fatigue, malaise, feverishness, chills.13 The majority of adverse reactions were mild to moderate in severity and usually resolved within a few days of vaccination.13
The vaccine has been granted a conditional marketing authorisation or emergency use in more than 125 countries. It also has Emergency Use Listing from the World Health Organization, which accelerates the pathway to access in up to 144 countries through the COVAX Facility.
Under a sub-license agreement with AstraZeneca, the vaccine is manufactured and supplied by the Serum Institute of India under the name COVISHIELD.
AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca (LSE/STO/Nasdaq: AZN) is a global, science-led biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialisation of prescription medicines in Oncology, Rare Diseases, and BioPharmaceuticals, including Cardiovascular, Renal & Metabolism, and Respiratory & Immunology. Based in Cambridge, UK, AstraZeneca operates in over 100 countries and its innovative medicines are used by millions of patients worldwide. Please visit astrazeneca.com and follow the Company on Twitter @AstraZeneca.
For more information about COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca, please visit https://www.azcovid-19.com/asia/th/th.html
References
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2. UK Health Security Agency: Research and analysis. COVID-19 vaccine weekly surveillance reports (weeks 39 to 12, 2021 to 2022). Data on the real-world effectiveness and impact of the COVID-19 vaccines. Available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccine-weekly-surveillance-reports?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications-topic&utm_source=9ed25929-064b-4b0e-8cbb-cae7639135d7&utm_content=daily. Accessed April 2022.
3. Sai V Vemula & Suresh K Mittal (2010). Production of adenovirus vectors and their use as a delivery system for influenza vaccines. Expert Opinion on Biological Therapy, 10:10, 1469-1487, DOI: 10.1517/14712598.2010.519332.
4. Data estimates based on model outcomes from separate analyses conducted by Airfinity and Imperial College, United Kingdom. AstraZeneca Data on File. DoF Ref – 156573, 11 July 2022
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8. P. Bhuyan et al. Very rare thrombosis with thrombocytopenia after second AZD1222 dose: a global safety database analysis. Lancet. Available at: https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736(21)01693-7.pdf. Last accessed July 2022.
9. Laporte JR et al. Vaccines against Covid-19, venous thromboembolism, and thrombocytopenia. A population-based retrospective cohort study. Available at https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.07.23.21261036v1. Last accessed July 2022.
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11. Falsey A, et al. Phase 3 safety and efficacy of AZD1222 (ChAdOx1nCoV-19 Vaccine. NEJM. Available at: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2105290?query=featured_coronavirus. Last accessed July 2022.
12. Flaxman A, et al. Reactogenicity and immunogenicity after a late second dose or a third dose of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (AZ2021D1222) in the UK: a substudy of two randomized controlled trials (COV001 and COV002). The Lancet 2021; 398: 981-90. Last accessed July 2022.
13. WHO Summary of Product Characteristics. COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca. December, 2021; https://www.covax.azcovid-19.com/content/dam/azcovid/pdf/covax/who-clean-smpc-azd1222-en.pdf. Last accessed July 2022.