Different Vaccines Protect Well Against Severe COVID-19

(Reuters) – While the mRNA vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna generate higher antibody levels to protect against SARS-CoV-2 infection, AstraZeneca’s viral-vector-based vaccine provides equivalent protection against hospitalization and death from COVID-19, according a review of dozens of studies.

A panel of experts in Southeast Asia reviewed 79 previous studies for a study funded by AstraZeneca. Both types of vaccines showed over 90% efficacy against hospitalization and death, the panelists said in a report posted on Research Square ahead of peer review.

“The high level of antibodies formed after the COVID-19 vaccination is often interpreted as the effectiveness of a vaccine. We now understand that while initial antibody response levels can vary across vaccines, their ability to prevent being hospitalized or dying from COVID-19 is equivalent,” panel member Dr. Erlina Burhan, a lung disease specialist at the University of Indonesia, in a statement.

A spokesperson for the panelists said the findings suggest decision-makers should use any vaccine type that is accessible and optimal for their local situation, and that people who have a choice of vaccine should know that the one they can get quickest is best.

A separate study published in Nature Communications found that while Moderna’s mRNA shots provide slightly more protection against coronavirus infection than the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, “there are no differences in vaccine effectiveness for protection against hospitalization, ICU admission, or death/hospice transfer.”

SOURCE: https://bit.ly/3kLuOEw Research Square, online April 25,2022 and https://go.nature.com/38WenTa Nature Communications, online May 2, 2022.

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