Pfizer, AstraZeneca vaccines 'highly effective' against B.1.617.2 variant found in India: Study

London: A new study conducted by Public Health England said that COVID-19 vaccine by the Pfizer/BioNTech and AstraZeneca pharmaceutical companies were found effective against the B.1.617.2 variant that has been found in India.

The study, published late on Saturday, showed that "the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was 88% effective against symptomatic disease from the B.1.617.2 variant 2 weeks after the second dose," while the effectiveness of the two-dose course of the AstraZeneca drug against the strain stood at 60 per cent.

As for the first shot of both vaccines, they both proved 33 per cent effective in three weeks after inoculation, according to the agency.

The PHE also noted that second shots of Pfizer/BioNTech and AstraZeneca vaccines were 93% and 66% effective, respectively, against the UK-linked coronavirus mutation B.1.1.7, while the first inoculation had about 50 per cent effectiveness against the same strain for both.

The PHE study was conducted from April 5 - May 16 and involved 1,054 people infected with the B.1.617.2 variant. (UNI)