Benzinga | Jul 23, 2021 07:30AM EDT

Real-World Data In Canada Shows AstraZeneca's COVID-19 Jab Is Over 80% Effective Against Variants

* Results from the Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN) showed that one dose of AstraZeneca Plc's (NASDAQ:AZN) COVID-19 vaccine was 82% effective against hospitalization or death caused by the Beta/Gamma COVID-19 variants.

* Dubbed Vaxzevria, the vaccine also showed a high level of effectiveness against the Delta (B.617.2, 'Indian') and Alpha (B.1.1.7, 'Kent') variants with 87% and 90% reduction in hospitalizations or deaths, respectively.

* The data was published as a pre-print.

* Follow-up time was insufficient to report on the vaccine's effectiveness after two doses; other studies have shown increased effectiveness following the indicated two-dose schedule.

* Vaccine effectiveness against any symptomatic disease was 50% against the Beta/Gamma variants and 70% and 72% against the Delta and Alpha variants.

* A Phase 1/2 trial carried out by the University of Oxford and the University of the Witwatersrand in January had shown limited efficacy against mild disease primarily due to the Beta variant.

* The analysis included around 70,000 individuals who tested positive for the infection from December 2020 to May 2021 in Ontario, Canada, with 28,705 (6.8%) positive for non-variants and 40,828 (9.7%) positive for a variant of concern.

* Price Action: AZN shares are up 0.14% at $58.04 during the premarket session on the last check Friday.

* Photo by Wilfried Pohnke from Pixabay