AstraZeneca vaccine is the best at keeping people out of hospital with just 1.52 per cent admitted

AstraZeneca‘s Covid vaccine is best at keeping people out of hospital and preventing deaths from the virus, a study has found.

Just 1.52 per cent of people who got the Oxford-made vaccine were admitted to wards after they caught the virus, researchers said. And only 0.03 per cent, or one in 3,000, died from the disease.

For comparison, among Pfizer recipients 1.99 per cent were hospitalised and 0.15 per cent died after they were infected with the virus. 

The AstraZeneca vaccine has formed the backbone of Britain’s vaccine roll out, with 25million people having already received the jab. The Pfizer vaccine has been dished out to more than 21million people, after an alternative to the Oxford-made jab was recommended for under-40s because of concern over vanishingly rare blood clots.

It came after Health Secretary Sajid Javid ordered the NHS to prepare to jab 12 to 15-year-olds in the cleareset sign yet they will be offered the jab, amid mounting warnings over a ‘large’ wave of infections sparked by schools. 

Pupils attending secondary schools and colleges in parts of the South West have already been told they will need to wear masks in corridors, playgrounds and other ‘communal areas’ when they return to the classroom next week.

A separate study from Public Health England and Cambridge University has today suggested people infected with the Indian ‘Delta’ variant are twice as likely to be hospitalised as those who catch the Kent ‘Alpha’ variant. 

Dr Anne Presanis, a senior statistician at the university, said: ‘Our analysis highlights that in the absence of vaccination, any Delta outbreaks will impose a greater burden on healthcare than an Alpha epidemic.’ 

The AstraZeneca vaccine has formed the backbone of Britain’s roll out, and been administered to almost 25million people. But in May an alternative jab was recommended for under-40s amid concern over a very rare blood clot

Researchers in Bahrain and at the New York-based Columbia University carried out the study between December and July, which was published as a pre-print. 

They monitored hospitalisations and deaths among people who caught the virus in Bahrain, an island nation in the Middle East, among the un-vaccinated and those who got their jabs.

The study also included the Chinese Sinopharm and Russian Sputnik jabs, which were both worse at preventing hospitalisations than their European counterparts.

For those who got the Sinopharm vaccine 6.94 per cent were hospitalised, and 0.46 per cent died — which was the worst performance out of the four vaccines.

Among Sputnik recipients 2.24 per cent were hospitalised, but only 0.09 per cent died from the virus.

The results showed those who did not get the vaccine were most likely to be hospitalised or die if they caught the virus. 

Among the un-vaccinated, 13.22 per cent who caught the virus were hospitalised and 1.32 per cent died. 

The Bahraini researchers said in their study: ‘All four vaccines decreased the risk of coronavirus infections, hospitalisations, ICU admissions and deaths when compared to unvaccinated individuals.’

Dr Simon Clarke, a microbiologist at Reading University, told The Sun: ‘This study shows people in the UK can be confident they’re getting the best vaccines available.

‘AstraZeneca and Pfizer provide good protection.’

The Chinese Sinopharm vaccine has been the main jab used in Bahrain, which is home to almost 1.5million people.

More than 569,000 people have been inoculated with the jab.

For comparison, 245,000 residents got the Pfizer jab, 169,000 got AstraZeneca’s vaccine and 73,000 received Sputnik.

Clinical trial results suggested the Pfizer vaccine was the most effective at preventing hospitalisations and deaths from Covid.

But experts have warned these figures may not be comparable when jabs are dished out in the real world, when other factors can influence their impact. 

Out of 3,000 AstraZeneca recipients included in the study who caught Covid, only 45 were hospitalised (1.52 per cent) and just one died from the virus (0.03 per cent).

Out of 2,000 Pfizer recipients who caught the virus, 40 were hospitalised (1.99 per cent) and three died from the virus (0.15 per cent).

Out of 3,000 Sputnik recipients who caught the virus, 77 were hospitalised (2.24 per cent) and three died (0.09 per cent).

For the Sinopharm vaccine there were 24,000 cases, of whom 1,683 were hospitalised (6.94 per cent) and 112 died (0.46 per cent).

And among the un-vaccinated almost 65,000 caught the virus, of whom almost 9,000 were hospitalised (13.22 per cent) and 857 died (1.32 per cent). 

More than 1.5million people have got the US-made Moderna vaccine in Britain, but this was not included in the study.