AstraZeneca COVID-19 jab is more effective than previously thought

The AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is more effective when the second dose is given later, early results have revealed.

The analysis of Phase Three trials in the UK, Brazil and South Africa, published as a preprint in The Lancet and yet to be peer reviewed, reveals the vaccine is 76 per cent effective after the first dose.

If the second dose is given 12 weeks or more after the first, efficacy is boosted to 82 per cent.

The original trial found the vaccine was 62 per cent effective when the second dose was given 28 days after the first.

The new results show the jab provides 100 per cent protection against severe disease, with no severe cases or hospitalisations occurring more than 22 days after the first dose.

The data reveals the jab could cut transmission by up to 67 per cent. Up until now it wasn’t known if the vaccine could prevent transmission.