Are we ready for a nationwide relaxation of lockdown restrictions when ONS data shows that we have yet to see a decline in infections caused by the UK B.1.1.7 🇬🇧 variant in many English regions?

The Office for National Statistics, Infection survey shows that despite lockdown there has been no decline in infections caused by B.1.1.7 🇬🇧 variant in Yorkshire, the East Midlands and the South West. In fact only London, the South East & the East have shown any significant decline. The Sunday papers are however reporting that the

The ONS COVID infection survey has shown that the 0-9 age group currently has the highest proportion of infected individuals, suggesting educational settings are a significant route of transmission between households

According to the DfE, around 54% of early years (nursery and reception) children have still been in attendance over the last couple of months. 23% of pupils in state primary schools were still in attendance, with as many as 2,000 schools in England estimated to have more than 40 per cent of their pupils in

As concerns grow over the protection offered by the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine to E484K variants grows, the case for the government to prioritise a 2nd dose of an alternative vaccine becomes increasingly compelling

The news broke at the weekend that the Oxford AstraZeneca only demonstrated 10% efficacy against the South African B.1.351 variant. This variant possess a mutation called E484K which changes the shape of the Spike protein in a way that makes it far more challenging for the antibodies produced in response to the Oxford AZ vaccine

Many COVID vaccines code for a “Stabilised Spike” but what is a “Stabilised Spike” and why may it improve the effectiveness of a vaccine?

The most effective vaccines generate neutralising antibody which prevents the virus from attaching to our cells. A virus can’t infect our cells if it can’t attach to (fuse with) our body cells. If the virus can’t infects our cells it can’t cause disease.    The COVID causing virus has spike proteins on its surface which

What does the data from the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine trial in South Africa and comparison studies with the Johnson & Johnson Janssen vaccine (a vaccine utilising the same technology) tell us about the likelihood of the Oxford vaccine protecting against severe disease and hospitalisation?

      T-cells can’t prevent the COVID virus from infecting our body cells but they play a vital role in protecting us against severe disease. T-cells are White Blood cells that kill infected body cells that the virus is using to generate more copies. Analysis shows 76 out of 87 T-cell binding sites (87%)

Should the UK public be alarmed by the news that the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine does not offer protection against mild/moderate COVID infections caused by the B.1.351 South Africa variant?

Oxford have reported that their vaccine offers minimal protection against mild/moderate COVID infection caused by the South African variant of the virus B.1.351 🇿🇦. However importantly the vaccine may still protect individuals from severe disease/hospitalisation. There were no cases of Severe disease/hospitalisations in either the vaccinated or the placebo group which is why Oxford are

Why mutations are unlikely to prevent vaccines from offering protection from Severe disease

There has been much concern in the media that new variants of the Virus will mean that the current COVID vaccine will no longer be effective. The good news is that many eminent Virologists believe this will not be the case. In an ideal world a Vaccine would stop the virus from infecting your cells

Highly encouraging results for Novavax COVID vaccine

The Novavax vaccine has demonstrated an overall efficacy of 89.3% in preventing mild, moderate and severe COVID disease in a major UK trial. The trial involved more than 15,000 participants aged between 18 and 84. The Vaccine had a 95.6% efficacy against the original variant of the virus and an 85.6% efficacy against new UK

The different Vaccine technologies explained

There are a number of different vaccine technologies that are currently being used against the SARS-CoV-2 COVID causing virus. Traditionally vaccines deliver whole virus particles (inactivated so they can’t cause disease) or the Spike proteins (antigens) from the surface of the virus. The first COVID vaccines have used a new approach. They deliver genetic instructions

Are there benefits to providing individuals with a dose of two different vaccine technologies

There has been very limited data on the immune response produced when individuals are provided with two different types of vaccine. In this study two vaccine technologies were used the AZ/Oxford Adenovirus vectored vaccine ChAdOx and a self amplifying RNA (saRNA) vaccine from Imperial College London. This is has similalarities with the technology used in