scientists behind the oxford astrazeneca
vaccine say it should
still protect against the worst
potential consequences of covid
after a study suggested that it had a
limited effect against the south african
variant of the disease
around 100 cases of that variant have
been identified in the uk
the study involving a trial of 2000
people has not yet been reviewed by
other experts
our medical editor fergus walsh reports
now on the latest research
and the ongoing effort to combat
emerging and future strains
of the coronavirus
snow and ice did not stop the
vaccination drive in ipswich today
there is now a road albeit a difficult
one
out of the pandemic but there's concern
that current vaccines
being used at thousands of centers
across the uk
might eventually lose some of their
potency as
coronavirus evolves the oxford
astrazeneca jab works well
against the kent variant first seen in
september and now
dominant in the uk but a small study
of 2 000 young adults in south africa
suggests
it gives minimal protection against mild
and moderate disease caused by the
variant there
even so scientists in oxford are
confident it would still
prevent serious covet disease
maybe we won't be reducing the number of
cases as
as much but we still won't be seeing the
the deaths the hospitalizations
and the severe disease and that's really
important for healthcare systems
even if we're having mild and
asymptomatic infections to prevent
people from going into hospital
with covid would have a major effect
coronavirus is constantly mutating
most changes aren't a worry vaccines
use the gene from the spike protein to
train the immune system
so if this code mutates as it has in the
variants from south africa brazil
and kent it may make the virus less
visible to antibodies thankfully t
cells another part of our immune system
look like they can spot infection
meaning existing vaccines should protect
against severe disease
more than a hundred cases of the south
africa variant
have been found in the uk and house to
house testing in affected areas is
underway
in a bid to suppress its spread but it's
inevitable
more variants will emerge the oxford
team
are creating prototype vaccines against
several
variants and say they'll be ready if
needed by the autumn
coronavirus immunization may become an
annual event we see very much a
probably an annual or a booster in the
autumn and then an annual in the way we
do
with flu vaccinations where you look at
what variant of virus is spreading
around the world
you rapidly produce a variant of vaccine
and then begin to vaccinate and protect
the nation
the more coronavirus mutates the less
likely it is
transmission can be stopped it means
covid will probably be
a permanent threat but like other
diseases
mostly preventable by vaccination
fergus walsh bbc news well the latest
government figures show that there were
15
845 new coronavirus infections recorded
in the latest 24-hour period
that means an average of 18 358 new
cases per day
in the last week another 373 deaths were
reported
that's people who died within 28 days of
a positive covit 19 test
numbers do tend to be lower at the
weekend on average in the past week 901
deaths were announced
every day the total number of uk deaths
is now 112 465.
the latest on the vaccination program is
that just under 550
000 people had a first dose of one of
the three approved covert 19 vaccines in
the latest 24-hour period
and that takes the overall number of
people who've had their first job to
just over
12 million or more now from fergus who's
with me here in the studio we've had
another big number on the vaccination
side of things fergus but how concerned
should we be about this study into the
south african variant and the oxford
vaccine
michelle new variants of coronavirus are
going to emerge
all the time it's what viruses do but
coronavirus actually mutates
much more slowly say than seasonal flu
and it's unclear how often we are going
to need a booster dose it could be
annually it could be every two years or
even longer it's simply too early to
tell
but it's straightforward to tweak these
vaccines it would only need small
clinical trials
the current vaccines pfizer and
astrozenica both work
really well against the predominant
strains here especially after two doses
now against the south african variant of
maybe the brazilian one
they may be less likely to stop mild and
asymptomatic disease
which is less good news for slowing the
spread but the bottom line is
vaccines are the best protection we have
so if you get your invite
go for it the rollout has been a big
success
12 million people have had their first
dose half a million
they're second fergus thank you very
much fergus walsh our medical editor