AstraZeneca CEO: "Vaccine, 'Success Formula' Discovered"...Will Dosage Controversy Be Resolved?

Remains Silent on Controversial Dosage and Method
UK Health Authorities Expected to Approve on the 4th of Next Month

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] Pascal Soriot, CEO of AstraZeneca, has claimed to have discovered a so-called 'success formula' that can maximize the immune effect of the company's COVID-19 vaccine, drawing significant attention. With the UK health authorities expected to approve the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine early next month, there is growing interest in whether this could provide a clue to resolving the previously controversial dosage issue.

According to the Sunday edition of the UK daily The Times on the 27th (local time), Pascal Soriot, CEO of AstraZeneca, stated in an interview with The Sunday Times that "we have found the success formula to achieve efficacy when the vaccine is administered twice," and claimed that "severe COVID-19 infections requiring hospitalization can be prevented 100%." However, he did not disclose specific administration methods or dosages. Soriot said, "Since the vaccine will be launched at some point, I cannot provide detailed information."

Soriot's remarks have attracted international attention as they coincide with expectations that UK health authorities will approve the AstraZeneca vaccine early next month. According to local media such as The Telegraph the previous day, the UK government plans to begin distributing AstraZeneca's vaccine from January 4. The Telegraph reported, "If the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) approves the AstraZeneca vaccine early next month, large-scale vaccination centers are expected to be set up from the second week of January." The UK government is reportedly expecting to vaccinate about 2 million people with the AstraZeneca vaccine within the next two weeks.

Accordingly, medical communities and health authorities worldwide are keenly watching whether the previous dosage controversy surrounding the AstraZeneca vaccine can be resolved. AstraZeneca announced on December 23 that the immune effect varied depending on the dosage in the interim analysis of the phase 3 clinical trial of the vaccine. The prevention rate was only 62.1% when the full dose was administered twice as scheduled, but it rose to 90% when a half dose was given for the first injection and a full dose for the second. This sparked controversy among health authorities and medical communities worldwide.

At the time of the announcement, CEO Soriot stated in a media briefing that "the fact that immune effects vary depending on the dosage was discovered due to a mistake during vaccination," which further intensified the controversy. As doubts about the vaccine's reliability began to arise, AstraZeneca announced that it would conduct additional clinical trials related to dosage to resolve the controversy.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.