AZ’s preventative Covid shot shown to work long-term
WASHINGTON/BERLIN: AstraZeneca (AZ) on Thursday cemented its lead in bringing a preventative Covid-19 shot for the non-infected to market for people who do not respond well to vaccines, saying its antibody drug cocktail offered 83% protection over six months.
The therapy, called AZD7442 or Evusheld, had previously been shown to confer 77% protection against symptomatic illness after three months, in an earlier readout of the late-stage PROVENT trial in August.
The Anglo-Swedish company also said a separate study in patients with mild-to-moderate Covid-19 showed a higher dose of AZD7442 cut the risk of symptoms worsening by 88% when given within three days of first symptoms.
The treatment is given in one go, as two sequential shots in the arm. AstraZeneca has said the shot is primarily meant to help immunocompromised and at-risk individuals but at some point a wider group could benefit, such as military personnel on tours of duty or cruise ship passengers.
Terrible Christmas ahead for Germany, warns RKI The head of The Robert Koch Institute (RKI), Germany’s disease control agency, has warned that the country faces a “really terrible Christmas” unless steps are taken to counter the sharp rise in coronavirus infections.
German lawmakers are debating measures on Thursday that would replace the nationwide epidemic rules, which will expire at the end of the month.
“We are currently heading toward a serious emergency,” the agency’s director, Lothar Wieler, said. Germany’s vaccine advisory committee recommended vaccine booster shots for all people aged over 18 on Thursday.