AstraZeneca Covid vaccine protection may last a lifetime: Study

[Hiawatha Pete]

From:
https://www.indiatvnews.com/news/india/astrazeneca-covid-vaccine-gives-lifetime-protection-study-found-719856

-snip-

The Oxford-AstraZeneca jab gives powerful protection that may last a whole lifetime, a new study has found. Apart from generating virus-busting antibodies, the vaccine also creates "training camps" in the body for search-and-destroy T-cells which can kill even the new variants

It means the body can continue making these vital cells long after the antibodies have waned, as possibly for the rest of your life, it said.

Scientists from Oxford, the UK, and Switzerland, writing in the journal ‘Nature', said that T-cell protection is a "key feature" of adenovirus vaccines like the Oxford and J&J jabs.

-snip-

Possibly good news for those of us in Canada (and former British Commonwealth - UK, Australia, Jamaica ect) who received double doses of Astrazeneca.

May also apply to Johnson & Johnson as well.

That said, I will still take a booster if one is offered.

[lagomorph777]

1. Good to hear after so much negative publicity.

I think this pandemic has advanced immunology by decades, and will continue to do so for a long time.

[Laurelin]

3. Cool!

That's the shot I got. Be nice if it lasts!

[LonePirate]

4. My brother was part of a US trial for the AZ vaccine.

He received his shots back in January and February and was later confirmed to have received the actual vaccine and not the placebo. They have been dragging their feet about distributing vaccine cards but he has not had any problems or any suspected COVID infections thus far which suggests the vaccine is working well for him.

[LisaL]

29. Since AstraZeneca hasn't been approved in the US, he is considered un-vaccinated.

On a bright side, I am assuming that means he could go to a pharmacy right now and get vaccinated with an mRNA vaccine.

[StarryNite]

36. Great to know.

At this stage of the game things are rapidly changing. Leave it to the experts to make those determinations.

I certainly would not be advising people to run out and get vaccinated with a different vaccination when it has not been called for by the doctors and or scientists. There is still testing to be done to find out if it is safe to mix vaccines and to determine if there is an advantage to even doing it. It might turn out to be the best thing for people to do regardless of what vaccine they have already received. Or it might be determined that that is not the way to go and we should stay with what we have already been given. Time and test trials will tell on that. In the meantime it is better to ask your doctor instead of just doing what you read online by somebody you know nothing about and who is not qualified to give that kind of advice.

[hamsterjill]

5. Here's hoping. And for the J&J, too

For needle phobes like me who got the J&J, it would be a real blessing not to have to face that fear again with booster after booster.

I've seen heartless comments on DU as to this phobia. "Oh, don't be a baby!" "Suck it up." Some people do not understand those of us who have the true phobia. It goes well beyond a simple "I'm a little anxious". It was a major undertaking for me to get vaxxed and I chose the J&J for the one time dose because of that.

So thanks for sharing some good news!!!

[hamsterjill]

12. Oh I will do what is recommended

It just won’t be easy.

I’m not alone either. The fear is keeping a lot of people from getting vaccinated. This phobia affects about 1 in 20 people.

I was lucky enough to find a doctor and a vaccination location that was understanding and willing to help me…rather than to just expect me to “suck it up”.

[StarryNite]

15. You're definitely not alone.

[StarryNite]

16. You're definitely not alone.

[hamsterjill]

17. I know!!!

[StarryNite]

21. I don't know why that double posted. LOL

[hamsterjill]

23. It's been happening.

Not sure why but I’ve seen it happen a few times over the last week.

[Baitball Blogger]

7. Maybe, for those of us who have a double dose of Pfizer, what the CDC

can do for us is start the clinical tests to see if it would be better for us to receive a J&J shot, or even an AstraZeneca to broaden our protection?

I don't think that getting a Pfizer booster every six months is a sustainable solution. It's expensive, for one thing.

[LisaL]

11. Pfizer is doing the same thing, producing T cells.

Astra Zeneca is less effective than Pfizer in preventing infections.

"The robust RBD-specific antibody, T cell and favourable cytokine responses induced by the BNT162b1 mRNA vaccine suggest that it has the potential to protect against COVID-19 through multiple beneficial mechanisms."

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2814-7

[StarryNite]

22. That's an interesting article from 2020.

It's amazing how much things can change in a year. Particularly with such a dynamic situation as this pandemic. Just a few months ago it looked like we were really getting a handle on things. Then came Delta.

[hamsterjill]

24. Great point!!!

The science is changing so fast!!! It’s hard for some to keep up!!!

[hamsterjill]

13. I don't think multiple boosters are a sustainable thing either.

At some point, even the most scientific minded of us are going to start asking how much and what is being pumped into our bodies.

[LisaL]

14. We are getting a flu vaccine every year.

By the way similar claims were made about mRNA vaccines, which also produce T-cells.

[hamsterjill]

19. Less than 50% of people get a flu shot.

Sorry. I don’t think it equates.

[malaise]

10. PHEW!

That's the one I got - yeeeeeeeeeees!

[malaise]

28. I'm sticking with this one

and will also take the booster on the doc's advice

[StarryNite]

20. This is great news!

It's not the one I got but I hope they all work and stay effective. We will all be better off if they do.

I don't quite understand the mindset of some who seem to want to make it some kind of competition between the vaccines and who got which one. We are all in this together and quite frankly not even the scientists know how long they will be effective or if they will be effective against future strains of the virus or which vaccines are the most effective.

Anyway, this pandemic is far from over. I'm really happy about any good news like this that comes out on any of the vaccines.

[Celerity]

26. Unless you run into the Beta variant (B.1.351 aka South African), then AZ vax's only 10.4% effective

against mild to moderate disease (the simple infection effective prevention rate, ie asymptomatic but still a spreader, would be even lower), and that was with a group median cohort age of only 30 years old. The Beta variant shares characteristics with other variants as well, and likely multiples ones yet to come.

The AZ vax been pulled in multiple countries, including here in Sweden.

AstraZeneca Vaccine Fails To Protect Against The South African Variant, Says Study

https://www.forbes.com/sites/williamhaseltine/2021/03/17/astrazeneca-vaccine-fails-to-protect-against-the-south-african-variant/

Two doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine were found to have only a 10.4% efficacy against mild-to-moderate infections caused by the B.1.351 South Africa variant, according to a phase 1b-2 clinical trial published on Tuesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. This is a cause for grave concern as the South African variants share similar mutations to the other variants leaving those vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine potentially exposed to multiple variants. This new finding should force a rapid acceleration of second-generation vaccines and encourage further research into the possibility of a pancoronavirus vaccine.

The trial evaluated the safety and the efficacy of the AstraZeneca vaccine in HIV-negative adults aged between 18 to 64 years old with a median age of 30 years old. The trial was conducted between June 24 and November 9, 2020 in South Africa using a multisite, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled approach. Out of the trial’s 750 vaccine recipients, 19 (2.5%) developed mild to moderate COVID-19 more than 14 days after the second dose, compared with 23 of 717 placebo recipients (3.2%). Of the 42 total cases of Covid-19, 39 (93%) were caused by the B.1.351 South Africa variant. These results demonstrated that the AstraZeneca vaccine was only 10.4% effective against the B.1.351 South Africa variant.

It is important to note that there were still no cases of hospitalization for severe Covid-19 or deaths observed in the study. Yet the authors did caution that the relatively young median age of participants (30 years) likely influenced the lack of severe Covid-19 cases.

The South African B.1.351 shares similar mutations with several other variants. Mutations to positions 417 (K417N), 484 (E484K), and 501 (N501Y) are all located in the receptor-binding domain. This structure is the part of the spike protein that attaches to the ACE2 receptor of the human cell. The K417N and E484K mutations have been seen in the Brazilian and Japanese variants, and N501Y has additionally been seen in the UK variant.

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmoa2102214

RESULTS

Between June 24 and November 9, 2020, we enrolled 2026 HIV-negative adults (median age, 30 years); 1010 and 1011 participants received at least one dose of placebo or vaccine, respectively. Both the pseudovirus and the live-virus neutralization assays showed greater resistance to the B.1.351 variant in serum samples obtained from vaccine recipients than in samples from placebo recipients. In the primary end-point analysis, mild-to-moderate Covid-19 developed in 23 of 717 placebo recipients (3.2%) and in 19 of 750 vaccine recipients (2.5%), for an efficacy of 21.9% (95% confidence interval [CI], −49.9 to 59.8). Among the 42 participants with Covid-19, 39 cases (95.1% of 41 with sequencing data) were caused by the B.1.351 variant; vaccine efficacy against this variant, analyzed as a secondary end point, was 10.4% (95% CI, −76.8 to 54.8). The incidence of serious adverse events was balanced between the vaccine and placebo groups.

CONCLUSIONS

A two-dose regimen of the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine did not show protection against mild-to-moderate Covid-19 due to the B.1.351 variant.

(Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and others; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT04444674. Pan African Clinical Trials Registry number, PACTR202006922165132 )

[Hiawatha Pete]

34. That's against infection. Studies show AZ efficacy against hospitalization from Beta over 80%

Last edited Fri Aug 13, 2021, 04:03 PM - Edit history (3)

According to general consensus regarding the Beta (S. African) variant:

From: https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/heart-matters-magazine/news/coronavirus-and-your-health/covid-variant

"A small study of 2,000 people in South Africa has shown that the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine offers minimal protection against mild cases of the Beta variant, but the vaccine is still likely to reduce severe cases and deaths from the strain.

From: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/08/02/one-astrazeneca-dose-gives-82pc-protection-against-beta-variant/
One AstraZeneca dose gives 82pc protection against beta variant hospitalisation or death

From:
https://www.astrazeneca.com/media-centre/press-releases/2021/vaxzevria-is-highly-effective-after-one-dose-against-severe-disease-or-hospitalisation-caused-by-beta-and-delta-variants-of-concern.html
Real-world data from Canada showed 82% and 87% effectiveness after one dose against hospitalisation or death caused by Beta/Gamma and Delta variants respectively

And for Delta:


Just a Coles notes version of my prior response.

Again, if a booster is required I'll, take whatever approved vaccine is offered and recommended -Pfizer, Moderna, J&J or AZ.

[Celerity]

35. 10.4% effective against mild to moderate disease, I never mentioned hospitalisation

[Hiawatha Pete]

38. That's why I did mention it, so others reading may get the whole picture.

Last edited Sat Aug 14, 2021, 08:55 AM - Edit history (6)

I agree that there are more effective vaccines against certain variants than Astrazenca. There are also others less effective.

I was aware of the 10% efficacy against infection vs Beta when I got my first dose of AZ which was the one and only vaccine available to my age group at the time.

Because the effectiveness against hospitalization was reportedly still very good for AZ in spite of that (over 80% as it turns out) , and the fact that Beta was the least prevalent variant in Canada, I took the AZ - my first priority along with everyone else in the same boat as me was not to die.

Not to mention we are all probably going to need boosters, which in Canada will likely all be mRNA, unless they approve a new AZ booster shot designed for Beta as well: https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/astrazeneca-oxford-univ-tests-covid-booster-shots-against-beta-variant-121062800464_1.html

All currently remaining AZ stock in Canada is earmarked only for those who had AZ as their first dose and want to have the same vaccine for their second. No AZ first doses are being given out anymore. I did not want to mix vaccines, so I got my second shot of AZ.

It's good to be aware of any vaccine's shortcomings, so it's good that you posted those study results.

That said, all vaccines so far have studies showing differing efficacy rates against infection for different variants and Pfizer is no exception - the latest study from the Mayo Clinic being 42% versus Delta for Pfizer. Prior data from Israel shows something like 64%. Canada 87%. Against hospitalization it's 93-96% for Pfizer.

Make of that what you will.

Astrazeneca versus Delta is 60-61% for infection. 92% for effectiveness against hospitalization (all according to the sources from my prior post above).

Regardless they are all very good a preventing hospitalization by every consensus that I'm aware of. If Pfizer or Moderna were available to me at the time, I would not have hesitated for a nanosecond to take it. And I have no regrets about taking my Astrazeneca.