Is it time to phase out the AstraZeneca vaccine?

We still await good data on the transmissibility of the Indian variants of Sars-CoV-2, something the government insists is vital as to whether the full reopening of the economy and society can go ahead as planned on 21 June. But we do now have some data on efficacy of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines against the Indian variant B.1.617.2 – whose triple mutation las led to worries that it might be able to sidestep the vaccines. A study lead by Public Health England finds that while the efficacy of both vaccines is slightly lower for the Indian variant compared with the Kent variant, the difference is not great.

Two doses of the Pfizer vaccine, it finds, prevent 88 per cent of symptomatic cases of the Indian variant and 93 per cent of symptomatic cases of the Kent variant.