- Home
- Medical news & Guidelines
- Anesthesiology
- Cardiology and CTVS
- Critical Care
- Dentistry
- Dermatology
- Diabetes and Endocrinology
- ENT
- Gastroenterology
- Medicine
- Nephrology
- Neurology
- Obstretics-Gynaecology
- Oncology
- Ophthalmology
- Orthopaedics
- Pediatrics-Neonatology
- Psychiatry
- Pulmonology
- Radiology
- Surgery
- Urology
- Laboratory Medicine
- Diet
- Nursing
- Paramedical
- Physiotherapy
- Health news
- Fact Check
- Bone Health Fact Check
- Brain Health Fact Check
- Cancer Related Fact Check
- Child Care Fact Check
- Dental and oral health fact check
- Diabetes and metabolic health fact check
- Diet and Nutrition Fact Check
- Eye and ENT Care Fact Check
- Fitness fact check
- Gut health fact check
- Heart health fact check
- Kidney health fact check
- Medical education fact check
- Men's health fact check
- Respiratory fact check
- Skin and hair care fact check
- Vaccine and Immunization fact check
- Women's health fact check
- AYUSH
- State News
- Andaman and Nicobar Islands
- Andhra Pradesh
- Arunachal Pradesh
- Assam
- Bihar
- Chandigarh
- Chattisgarh
- Dadra and Nagar Haveli
- Daman and Diu
- Delhi
- Goa
- Gujarat
- Haryana
- Himachal Pradesh
- Jammu & Kashmir
- Jharkhand
- Karnataka
- Kerala
- Ladakh
- Lakshadweep
- Madhya Pradesh
- Maharashtra
- Manipur
- Meghalaya
- Mizoram
- Nagaland
- Odisha
- Puducherry
- Punjab
- Rajasthan
- Sikkim
- Tamil Nadu
- Telangana
- Tripura
- Uttar Pradesh
- Uttrakhand
- West Bengal
- Medical Education
- Industry
WHO backs up AstraZeneca vaccine use amid efficacy concerns
World Health Organization (WHO) has decided that potential benefits of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine outweigh known and potential risks, amid concerns over its efficacy against the virus variant found in South Africa.
The WHO also says the vaccine can be used in people aged over 65, which some countries have advised against. It has also advised that spacing out the two doses makes the vaccine more effective.
The WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) panel on Wednesday said the two-dose AstraZeneca vaccine efficacy tended to be higher when the interval between doses was within the four to 12 weeks range, reports Xinhua news agency.
It also added that although preliminary analyses based on a small sample size in South Africa indicate a marked reduction in vaccine effectiveness against mild and moderate disease, it did not allow a specific assessment of vaccine efficacy against severe Covid-19.
As indirect evidence is compatible with protection against severe Covid-19, the situation remains to be demonstrated in ongoing clinical trials and post-implementation evaluations.
In view of this, WHO currently recommends the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine even if the variants are present in a country.
Countries should conduct a benefit-risk assessment according to the local epidemiological situation, including the extent of circulating virus variants.
"We have made a recommendation that even if there is a reduction in the possibility of this vaccine having a full impact in its protection capacity, especially against severe disease, there is no reason not to recommend its use even in countries that have circulation of the variant," said SAGE chair Alejandro Cravioto at a briefing on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, SAGE cautioned that as there are currently no efficacy or safety data for children or adolescents below the age of 18 years, vaccination of individuals below 18 years of age is not recommended until such data are available.
South Africa said recently that the rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the country would be temporarily put on hold until more "clinically efficacy information" of the vaccine against new Covid-19 variant becomes available.
The decision came after a study showed that the AstraZeneca vaccine was less effective against the new variant found in South Africa.
Medical Dialogues Bureau consists of a team of passionate medical/scientific writers, led by doctors and healthcare researchers. Our team efforts to bring you updated and timely news about the important happenings of the medical and healthcare sector. Our editorial team can be reached at editorial@medicaldialogues.in.
Dr Kamal Kant Kohli-MBBS, DTCD- a chest specialist with more than 30 years of practice and a flair for writing clinical articles, Dr Kamal Kant Kohli joined Medical Dialogues as a Chief Editor of Medical News. Besides writing articles, as an editor, he proofreads and verifies all the medical content published on Medical Dialogues including those coming from journals, studies,medical conferences,guidelines etc. Email: drkohli@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751