Bangladesh study shows Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine produces antibodies in 97pc recipients

A real-world study in Bangladesh has shown that the Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine against the coronavirus has produced antibodies in 97 percent of the recipients.

Experts, however, still emphasise continuing practices like physical distancing and wearing facemasks as there is no confirmed data on how long the antibodies will last and provide protection against COVID-19.

The government’s Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research or IEDCR published the results of the study on Wednesday, saying that 92 percent of the recipients produced antibodies a month after being injected with the vaccine.

The number of recipients with antibodies rose to 97 percent two months after the jabs, the study showed.

Participants of the study who were infected with the coronavirus developed four times as much antibodies than the others.

Bangladesh launched the mass vaccination drive on Feb 7 with doses manufactured by the Serum Institute of India.

The government has administered more than 9.47 million doses so far, including nearly over 3.65 million who got both shots.

The government’s disease control agency is conducting the study on 6,300 recipients jointly with the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh or icddr,b. It will continue for two years.

The results published on Wednesday are from the analysis of data from a group of 120 participants.

Age and underlying health conditions did not affect their immunisation after vaccination, according to the study.