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Vaccines Show Signs Of Efficacy Against Delta Variant, But Is It Enough?

 
• By Alaric DeArment

AstraZeneca and Moderna disclosed clinical and preclinical evidence that their COVID-19 vaccines, Vaxzevria and mRNA-1273, provide protection against the B.1.617.2 strain.

AZ COVID Vaccine
AstraZeneca and Moderna said their vaccines have shown activity against the Delta strain of SARS-CoV-2 • Source: Shutterstock

AstraZeneca PLC and Moderna, Inc. both announced that their COVID-19 vaccines show signs of efficacy against the Delta (B.1.617.2) and other SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern as evidence mounts that Delta in particular is able to evade protection by Moderna’s mRNA-1273 and Pfizer Inc./BioNTech SE’s BNT162b2. The question now is whether booster shots will provide protection from the variant, first identified in India, as well as other more virulent strains.

London-based AstraZeneca said on 28 June that an analysis from the University of Oxford-led COV001 and COV002 trials of Vaxzevria, its adenovirus-based vaccine previously known as AZD-1222, showed that a third dose of the vaccine, given at least six months after the second dose, resulted in higher neutralizing activity against the Delta variant, along with the Alpha (B.1.1.7, which first emerged in the UK) and Beta (B.1.351, first emerged in South Africa) variants

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