Results show Pfizer/BioNTech and Oxford/AstraZeneca jabs are proving highly effective

The findings, based on a study of 8,517 people in England and Wales, are the latest evidence to show that the two mainstays of Britain’s vaccine drive are proving highly effective.

The research found that 96.42% of people who had either vaccine had developed antibodies 28 to 34 days after their first dose. That rose to 99.08% within seven to 14 days of the second jab.

The UCL Virus Watch data shows that for older adults and for people with underlying health conditions, the antibody response is a bit weaker after the first dose of the vaccine, but strong after the second dose.

This work was reported on by multiple print and online media see links below.  You can read details of this analysis here: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.05.12.21257102v2

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/18/96-of-britons-develop-antibodies-after-one-covid-jab-study-finds?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

https://metro.co.uk/2021/05/18/covid-uk-george-eustice-says-local-lockdowns-cant-be-ruled-out-14599192/

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/antibodies-covid-vaccine-uk-first-dose-pfizer-astrazeneca-b935709.html

https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2021/05/18/96-of-people-develop-covid-antibodies-after-just-one-shot-of-pfizer-or-astrazeneca-vaccine-uk-study-finds/?sh=6239aec9699b

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9590883/More-96-Britons-develop-Covid-antibodies-one-dose-vaccine.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490

Analysing internet search activity is an established method of tracking and understanding infectious diseases, and is currently used to monitor seasonal flu. The new findings show that online search data can be used with more established approaches to develop public health surveillance methods for novel infectious diseases as well.

For the paper, published in Nature Digital Medicine https://www.nature.com/articles/s41746-021-00384-w researchers used COVID-19’s symptom profile from existing epidemiological reports to develop models of its prevalence by looking at symptom-related searches through Google.

They then recalibrated these models to reduce public interest bias – that is, the effect media coverage has on online searches. This enabled them to predict a peak in cases when applied to COVID-19.

Academics working on the models have been sharing their findings with Public Health England (PHE) on a weekly basis to support the response to the disease.

This work was reported by the following media outlets:

Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2021/02/08/covid-outbreaks-could-spotted-weeks-early-tracking-google-searches

BBC https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/technology-53078581

New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/05/opinion/coronavirus-google-searches.html

Huffington Post https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/coronavirus-google-search-data_uk_5f8d55d4c5b67da85d1fdead

Daily Mail https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-9237155/Online-searches-Covid-symptoms-predict-peaks-17-days-happen.html

More than four out of five people (86%) of people who were uncertain or intending to refuse a COVID-19 vaccine in December 2020 changed their mind and planned on, or had already accepted, a vaccine in February 2021. This shift was consistent across all ethnic groups and all levels of social deprivation.

This work was reported on by multiple print and online media as well as professional press.  See links below.  You can read details of this analysis here.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/mar/24/covid-vaccine-hesitancy-england-wales-being-overcome-study-finds

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/coronavirus-vaccine-hesitancy-study-ucl-b1821859.html

https://inews.co.uk/news/health/covid-19-vaccine-jab-hesitancy-is-waning-as-the-rollout-continues-say-scientists-927307

https://www.npr.org/2021/04/26/988165812/how-a-u-k-imam-countered-vaccine-hesitancy-and-helped-thousands-get-the-jab?t=1620729315964

https://www.bmj.com/content/372/bmj.n837

https://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/news/clinical-areas/immunology-and-vaccines/book-covid-jab-before-supply-dries-up-nhse-tells-eligible-patients/

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-04-21/covid-vaccines-gen-z-and-millennials-are-the-next-challenge-for-u-s-and-u-k

https://www.gponline.com/gps-urged-repeat-covid-19-vaccine-offers-study-shows-fall-hesitancy/article/1710748

https://www.newstatesman.com/science-tech/coronavirus/2021/04/why-has-covid-19-vaccine-had-such-high-uptake-uk