AstraZeneca vaccine more effective with longer dose gap, says study

Angela February 19, 2021

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AstraZeneca and Oxford University’s COVID-19 vaccine is more effective when its second dose is given three months after the first, instead of six weeks, a peer-reviewed study published in The Lancet medical journal showed on Friday.

The study confirmed the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker’s findings from earlier this month that showed the vaccine had 76 per cent efficacy against symptomatic coronavirus infection for three months after the first dose.

Efficacy was found to be at 81 per cent with the longer interval of 12 weeks between the first and second dose, compared with 55 per cent efficacy up to the six-week gap, according to the Lancet study, which backs British and WHO recommendations for longer intervals.