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(Adds Oxford on UK variant)
LONDON, Feb 5 (Reuters) - British regulators have received
extra trial data from AstraZeneca that supports their
view that the COVID-19 vaccine developed with Oxford University
is effective in the elderly, a vaccines official said on Friday
Britain has been rolling out the shot among all age groups
after the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency
(MHRA) was the first regulator to approve it in December, but
some other European countries have said more data is needed
before it is given to those over 65.
Munir Pirmohamed, Chair of the Commission on Human
Medicines' COVID-19 Vaccines Benefit Risk Expert Working Group
said British regulators had noticed the smaller number of
under-65s in the data when they approved the vaccine.
"Nevertheless, there was no evidence (to suggest) that those
people over 65 were not getting evidence of efficacy," he said
at an MHRA news briefing, asked by Reuters about efficacy of the
shot in the elderly.
"Since then we've seen more data coming through from
AstraZeneca as more people are completing the trial, which
highlights again that efficacy in the elderly is seen, and
there's no evidence of lack of efficacy."
He added elderly people were generating strong immune
responses, and said that the most important thing was that both
AstraZeneca's vaccine and a shot developed by Pfizer and
BioNTech were preventing serious disease and deaths.
President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen
has said that the EU has decided not to compromise on safety as
she defends the slower pace of approval of shots in the bloc.
Asked about the suggestion that Britain had compromised on
safety and efficacy standards, MHRA Chief Executive June Raine
defended the regulator's standards.
"I think our position is very clear in terms of the
rigorous science that MHRA pursues in the interests of public
confidence, public safety, and the effectiveness of these
important vaccines," she said.
Oxford University on Friday said it had found its vaccine
had similar efficacy against the variant first identified in
Kent, southern England, as previously circulating strains.
(Reporting by Alistair Smout; editing by William James)
