March 3, 2021

more evidence on whether the COVID vaccines work

The AvonCAP study from Bristol is a prospective test negative case control study of pneumonia in adults admitted to two large NHS hospitals. Scientists have mined this study for data on whether the COVID vaccines have protected older people against infection. This design avoids several potential biases of data linkage studies, particularly those related to the rapid recent changes in the epidemic and vaccine rollout over time. The present analysis separately reports the effectiveness of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines in preventing hospitalisation of people in their 80s with multiple comorbidities.

Journalists dialled in to this briefing to hear the scientists talk about the study and their first analyses of the data. Please note, this analysis has not yet been peer-reviewed or published, so the data is in preliminary form.

Speakers included:

Prof Adam Finn, Professor of Paediatrics, University of Bristol

Dr Robin Marlow, Consultant in Paediatric Emergency Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Bristol Royal Hospital for Children

Dr Catherine Hyams, Postdoctoral Clinical Research Fellow in Respiratory Medicine, University of Bristol

This Briefing was accompanied by an SMC Roundup of Comments.