Moderna Covid vaccine is ‘most effective’ against Delta variant, new study finds
THE Moderna coronavirus jab is the "most effective"; against the Delta variant, a new study has revealed.
Millions of vaccines have been given out across the UK in a bid to bring down infections caused by Covid-19.
No jab is 100 per cent effective, but the coronavirus vaccines have been proven to prevent severe illness and hospitalisation.
Researchers in the US found that the Pfizer/BioNTech jab was just 42 per cent effective against the Delta strain.
The data was taken from July and the experts found that the Moderna jab trumped the Pfizer offering, with Moderna being 76 per cent effective against the Delta variant.
The study has not yet been peer-reviewed and was published in .
Jabs from Moderna and Pfizer have been rolled out in the US, while in the UK, jabs from Moderna, Pfizer and Oxford/AstraZeneca have also been given out.
The Mayo Clinic researchers add: "Although clinical trials and real-world studies have affirmed the effectiveness and safety of the FDA (Food and Drugs Administration) - authorised Covid- 19 vaccines, reports of breakthrough infections and persistent emergence of new variants highlight the need to vigilantly monitor the effectiveness of these vaccines."
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They explained that both dosage and vaccine composition is needed to determine how effective the jabs are against certain strains.
The experts gathered their data from 25,000 Minnesota residents from January to July 2021.
For the first six months the vaccines lived up to high standards - giving around 90 per cent protection.
But they started to dip in June, falling further once the Delta strain reached the US in July. This corresponds to the rise in Delta cases.
In May just 0.7 per cent of cases in Minnesota were caused by Delta, but in June that had climbed to 70 per cent.
The experts highlighted that even though infections had risen, they had still prevented hospitalisations and severe cases - with both jabs having a rate of just under 25 per cent protection against hospitalisation.
The findings from the US comes after a study conducted in Israel also found that the Pfizer jab is 'less effective' against the Delta strain.
Effectiveness in stopping cases of Delta and symptomatic disease fell to 64 per cent, as of June 6.
But the vaccine is still 93 per cent effective at preventing serious illness or hospitalisations.
After one dose the Pfizer vaccine is 36 per cent effective against symptomatic illness from the Delta variant, and the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is about 30 per cent effective against getting ill, the study found.
Israel's Health Ministry released the study after a rise in infections the coincided with the country ending social distancing restrictions.
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A Pfizer spokesperson declined to comment on the data from Israel, but cited other research showing that antibodies elicited by the vaccine were still able to neutralise all tested variants, including Delta, albeit at reduced strength.