Britain's early deployment of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine to protect against COVID-19 may be responsible for country's lower death rates compared to other European countries, a UK vaccines expert has said.
Dr Clive Dix, former chairman of UK's Vaccine Task Force, told 'Daily Telegraph' that Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine - manufactured and administered in India as Covidshield-may offer stronger long-term protection against severe COVID-19 and death."If you look across Europe, with rise in cases, there's also a corresponding lagged rise in deaths, but not in UK, and we have to understand that," said Dr Dix."I personally believe that's because most of our vulnerable people were given AstraZeneca vaccine," he said. According to Our World in Data, a website run by University of Oxford, the UK has 1.7 daily deaths from COVID per million people. In comparison, the European Union (EU) as a whole has almost four. The key, Dix believes, is that although RNA jabssuch as Pfizer/BioNTech produce a more obvious and rapid jump in antibody levels in lab tests, other vaccines may be better at priming another part of immune system called cellular immunity. This includes various forms of T cells, including those that destroy infected cells, and also memory cells, ensuring a person can fight off an infection several years after they are first exposed to it.
They are slower to react than antibodies and do not prevent infection, but do halt pathogen in its tracks, making it harder for virus to cause damage."We've seen early data that Oxford jab produces a very durable cellular response and if you've got a durable cellular immunity response then they can last for a long time. It can last for life in some cases," Dix told newspaper.
The only notable difference, according to scientist, between UK and Europe's vaccine rollout was approachto Oxford/AstraZeneca jab. European regulators approved use of vaccine long after UK had rolled it out among its older age groups at end of last year.
