Variant jabs to be rolled out without lengthy trials

VACCINES tweaked to combat Covid-19 variants will be rolled out without new approval or lengthy clinical trials, the MHRA has confirmed.

Several companies, including Astrazeneca and Pfizer, are working on new versions of their vaccines that will work better against mutations of the virus.

New variants, such as those from South Africa and Brazil, have evolved to escape immune protection from both prior infection and vaccines. A recent study showed the Oxford vaccine has just 10 per cent effectiveness against the South African variant.

The MHRA decision means reformulated vaccines need just a small trial with a few hundred people, lasting just a few weeks, to make sure antibodies are building.

An effective vaccine could be available just a few months after a dangerous new variant is identified.

Manufacturers will still need to provide “robust” evidence the modified vaccine produces an immune response.

Dr June Raine, chief executive of the MHRA, said: “This approach is based on the tried and tested process used for seasonal flu jabs where annual modifications are needed.”

The MHRA said researchers are now better able to measure protection by looking at blood antibodies, reducing the need to wait and see if people in a trial become infected.

Dr Christian Schneider, MHRA chief scientific officer, said: “It’s a bit like when you have a car and you know the car is driving, you have done the crash test and you put a new engine into the car, the crash tests will still be the same.”

‘This is based on the tried and tested process for flu jabs where annual modification is needed’