BRIEF—WHO backs Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for adults of all ages

With a number of national regulators declaring they would not approve COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca for older age group because of questions in its efficacy in such populations, there was good news for the UK’s AstraZeneca and Oxford University, with the much-anticipated decision from the World Health Organization.

Scientific advisors to the WHO today released their report not only backing the use of the vaccine, but doing so for all age groups.

They also recommended extending the time between first and second dose to improve efficacy.

Dr Alejandro Cravioto, chairman of the WHO's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization, said: "In the case of the data coming from clinical trials, we have seen that there was a small participation of people over 65 years of age.

"However, the results of the efficacy estimate for persons up to 65 and older had a wide confidence interval. And therefore we feel that the response of this group cannot be any different to groups that are of a younger age.

"Since we have identified 'people over 65' was one of our priority groups in the prioritization roadmap... looking at the safety and immunogenicity data... we recommend for the vaccine to be used in people 18 years and above, without an upper age limit.”