A dosage error by researchers on the AstraZeneca-Oxford University COVID-19 vaccine trial has surprisingly led towards a huge boost in the expected success rate. This mistake was revealed by the pharmaceutical company's very own vice president.
The researchers administered the wrong dosage
According to the head of AstraZeneca's own biopharmaceutical research, Dr. Mene Pangalos, the discovery of actually giving just half of a dose at the very start was able to work much better. This was a result of an accident and it was stated that the main reason for just half a dose was purely serendipity.
Volunteers were actually just expected to be given two full doses of the known vaccine but what happened was those that received the misdosage showed better results as compared to the other group. The participants showed better results as to those that only received the placebo.
The results showed 90% as opposed to 62%
According to Dr. Pangalos statement with regards to the researchers, it was said that they were actually confused when the results showed volunteers within the vaccine groups actually reporting milder side effects. These side effects included headaches, fatigue, and even arm aches.
The study published just recently even showed that the Oxford vaccine did appear to be over 90% effective in certain people who received only half-doses of vaccine followed up by a complete dose some weeks later. This was in comparison to the 62% when initially given a full two doses of these vaccines.
The smaller dose worked to prepare the body
Scientists later on explained that this occurrence could be because the initial smaller dose was able to effectively prepare the body's immune system by slowly showing it some smaller sample of the known coronavirus. After this, the full dose would then be administered some time later on which would trigger a whopping full-blown immune response.
Dr. Pangalos then said that despite this mistake, the team actually decided to move ahead with the given half-dose group in order for them to administer the given full dose booster later on when scheduled. The results then came back with the vaccine showing 90% effective among the given group. The 90% effectivity was also noted in an article by BBC.
The vaccine costs $2.67
The larger group that received the originally planned out two full doses then produced an efficiency rating of only 62% which then led to an average efficiency of just 70% across the both dosing patterns. This story was reported by The Daily Mail.
It is now most likely that the doctors will result in only administering the 1.5 dose regime of the given vaccine rather than the originally planned out two full doses. This is due to the effects seemingly more effective than originally expected.
This will mean that the given jab, which is now expected to cost just around about $2.67 for a single dose, will eventually stretch even further. The 100million doses that were pre-ordered by the United Kingdom, for example, would actually have covered 50million different people using a whole two-dose system, but this could now stretch across the population of a whole 66million.
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Written by Urian Buenconsejo
