AstraZeneca says its coronavirus vaccine can stop severe disease despite ‘limited’ success against South African variant

British company AstraZeneca says it believes its COVID-19 vaccine developed with Oxford University can protect against severe disease caused by the South African variant of the virus.

But AstraZeneca confirmed that early data from a small trial had shown only limited efficacy for the vaccine against mild disease primarily due to this variant.

“We do believe our vaccine could protect against severe disease, as neutralising antibody activity is equivalent to that of other COVID-19 vaccines that have demonstrated activity…