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This story just came out (including Germany apparently limiting use of the AZ vaccine to <65s) so wanted to do a quick update on my personal thoughts. This is not meant to be an exhaustive list, just things off the top of my head⊠https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-55839885
They say there is âinsufficient dataâ to show effectiveness in that age group, but what do we know already? âŠ. ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (the fancy name for the AZ jab) induces T and B cell responses in the elderly (also single dose), and was well tolerated.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)32466-1/fulltext
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)32466-1/fulltext
T/B cell responses are induced after a single dose. This has been shown in the Lancet paper above, and also in this one below (albeit below in younger age groups). https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-01194-5
The problem seems to stem from relatively low numbers of older age groups in the big real-world efficacy study carried out in the UK and Brazil. See in the table, there are a few hundred in the >56y age bracket.
https://www.thelancet.com/action/showPdf?pii=S0140-6736%2820%2932661-1
https://www.thelancet.com/action/showPdf?pii=S0140-6736%2820%2932661-1
There's currently a big Phase 3 ongoing in the USA for this vaccine and data for this will hopefully be available in in Spring 2021. This will cover also older age groups. https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/phase-3-clinical-testing-us-astrazeneca-covid-19-vaccine-candidate-begins
If my mum was going to take this as someone in her early seventies (she should get hers before Feb 15th), I would be very happy to hear that, based on only the things I've listed above.
This is also an interesting thread from someone following the developments in Germany very closely. https://twitter.com/hildabast/status/1354788037352284164?s=20
