Study: Pfizer and AstraZeneca’s protection from delta variant weaker after 90 days

(Gray News) - A British study finds protection against the delta variant from the Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines weakens within 90 days after the second dose.

The authors noted that two doses of either vaccine still gave at least the same level of protection as after getting a natural coronavirus infection.

The study also said people who were vaccinated after a COVID-19 infection had even more protection than vaccinated individuals who had not had COVID-19.

Also, vaccinated people infected with the delta variant carried “similar peak levels of virus” as unvaccinated people, whereas with the alpha variant, the virus load was much lower in those infected after vaccination.

The study of more than 3 million COVID-19 tests was conducted by Oxford University, Britain’s Office of National Statistics, and the Department for Health and Social Care.

The study has not yet undergone peer review before publication in a scientific journal.

The AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine has not been approved for emergency use in the U.S.