Uk Authorities: Two Doses Of COVID-19 Vaccine Effective Against Indian Variants

JAKARTA - Double doses of the COVID-19 vaccine are almost as effective against the fast-spreading coronavirus variant first identified in India, compared to the dominant type in the UK, British health officials said on Saturday local time.

Britain's Health Minister said the data was groundbreaking and he was increasingly hoping the government could lift more COVID-19 restrictions next month.

A study by Public Health England found, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is 88 percent effective against symptomatic diseases of the B.1.617.2 variant two weeks after the second dose.

That compares with the effectiveness of 93 per cent against the B.1.1.7 strain "Kent" which is the UK's dominant COVID variant.

Meanwhile, two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine were 60 percent effective against symptomatic diseases of the Indian variant compared to the effectiveness of 66 percent against the Kent variant, PHE said.

"I am increasingly convinced that we are on track for the road map, as this data shows, after two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine worked equally effectively (against the Indian variant)," British Health Minister Matt Hancock told Reuters Sunday, May 23.

Under the government's plan, the lifting of the remaining corona virus restrictions will take place from June 21. The UK itself is known to be working to speed up its vaccination process, despite being at the forefront of Europe so far.

Data published on Saturday showed that new COVID-19 cases reported in the UK rose 10.5 per cent in the seven days to May 22.

Meanwhile, PHE said the first dose of both vaccines was 33 percent effective against symptomatic diseases of B.1.617.2 after three weeks, lower than the effectiveness of 50 percent against B.1.1.7.

'As such, it is important to obtain both doses of the vaccine,' Minister Hancock added.

Concerns about the rise in cases in the UK from variants first discovered in India led Germany to announce quarantine obligations for anyone entering Germany from the UK.

In contrast to the UK, the head of Germany's public health agency said the existing COVID-19 vaccine may have been less effective against the B.1.617.2 variant as of last Friday.