AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 Vaccine Up to 90% Effective, Cheaper Than Alternatives

Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca announced Monday that its COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine, developed in collaboration with Oxford University, could be as much as 90% effective. The vaccine does not require storage at below-freezing temperatures, allowing for easier distribution. This and other factors contribute to a cost of $2.50 per dose, much cheaper than the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, which reportedly cost over $20 per dose. Late-stage trials showed that the vaccine was 70% effective on average, 62% effective when given as two full doses, and 90% effective when given as a half-dose followed by a full dose one month later. AstraZeneca said it could have 200 million doses by the end of 2020 and 700 million doses by the end of the first quarter of 2021; one Oxford scientist called it “a vaccine for the world.” Coverage was mostly balanced across bias ratings. Most headlines said the virus was “90% effective”; some headlines said it was “70% effective.” Some coverage differed on the cost of Moderna's vaccine.