Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine to immunize the planet 'more effectively,' Lancet editor says
LONDON — The Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine has a "distinct comparative advantage" over other leading candidates, the editor-in-chief of The Lancet medical journal said Wednesday.

The comments by Dr. Richard Horton came a day after his peer-reviewed journal published a study that found the vaccine candidate was safe and effective.

The data also suggested that the vaccine can help reduce the spread of Covid-19, as well as preventing illness and death.

The vaccine, produced in a collaboration between the University of Oxford and the British pharmaceutical giant, is one of several seeking to secure approval from medicine regulators amid rising hopes that a mass vaccination campaign could help end the pandemic, which has killed more than 1.55 million people worldwide.

"The Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine is the vaccine right now that is going to be able to immunize the planet more effectively, more rapidly than any other vaccine we have," Horton told CNBC's "Street Signs Europe."

Horton said it is important to think about vaccine immunization on a global scale "because even if we immunize one country, the threat then is you reintroduce the virus from another country that is not protected."

"That means that you need a vaccine that can get to lower middle-income countries," Horton said. He added it was "not practicable" to launch a global vaccination campaign with storage needs of minus 70 degrees Celsius (minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit), apparently referring to the Pfizer -BioNTech vaccine.

The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine can be stored at regular refrigerator temperature. It is also cheaper than its peers, thought to cost around $4 per dose.