Vaccines from Pfizer Inc. and AstraZeneca Plc offer protection against the Delta variant of the coronavirus, researchers said on June 14 after a Scotland study discovered that these vaccines produced by Pfizer and partner BioNTech SE offered better protection. The research results were presented in a study letter published in The Lancet.
Researchers from the Universities of Edinburgh and Strathclyde, and Public Health Scotland, noted that the Pfizer vaccine offered 92% protection against the alpha variant and 79% against the delta one 14 days after the second dose – as against 73% and 60% protection for the AstraZeneca vaccine.
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However, the vaccine comparison should be interpreted with caution due to the observational nature of the data, the researchers stated.
Jim McMenamin, COVID-19 incident director at Public Health Scotland, highlighted through media the need for people to ensure that they had taken both vaccination doses. U.K. authorities debated over the question of delaying lifting pandemic restrictions in the spread of the delta variant that was first discovered in India. (AW)
