Pfizer/BioNTech or AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine Effective Against Variant Found in India: CNBC - AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN), Pfizer (NYSE:PFE), BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX)

Two doses of either the Pfizer Inc PFE - BioNTech SE BNTX or AstraZeneca Plc AZN - University of Oxford vaccine give effective protection against the COVID-19 variant first discovered in India, dubbed B.1.617.2, a new study found.
The study, led by Public Health England, also found that two doses of the vaccine were similarly effective at protecting against the variant that first emerged in the U.K., reports CNBC.
The study also underscored the need for two doses, as both vaccines were significantly less effective after only one shot.
The research was conducted between April and May.
The study found that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was 88% effective against symptomatic disease from Indian variant, two weeks after the second dose.
The vaccine was 93% effective two weeks after the second dose against the B.1.1.7 variant, first discovered in the U.K. last fall.
Meanwhile, two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine were found to be 60% effective against symptomatic disease from the B.1.617.2 variant, compared with 66% effective against the strain from the U.K.
However, both vaccines were only 33% effective against symptomatic disease from B.1.617.2 three weeks after the first dose. In the same time frame, they were 50% effective against the B.1.1.7 variant.
Price Action: BNTX shares are +0.55% at $196.77, AZN stock is +0.25% at $57.55, while PFE shares are down 0.31% at $39.83.