According to the AstraZeneca announcement made Monday, its COVID-19 vaccine III trial provided 79% efficacy at preventing symptomatic COVID-19 and 100% efficacy at preventing severe disease and hospitalization. “Vaccine efficacy was consistent across ethnicity and age. Notably, in participants aged 65 years and over, vaccine efficacy was 80%.”

“There were no severe illnesses or hospitalizations among vaccinated volunteers, compared with five such cases in participants who received dummy shots — a small number, but consistent with findings from Britain and other countries that the vaccine protects against the worst of the disease,” writes AP in the Star Tribune.

According to Associated Press, AstraZeneca study’s independent safety monitors found “no serious side effects, including no increased risk of rare blood clots like those identified in Europe, a scare that led numerous countries to briefly suspend vaccinations last week”.

I do hope it puts to bed any doubts about the vaccine efficacy. Overall where the vaccine is being used, it’s been shown to be highly effective. So I hope that the U.S. study now will continue to give the vaccine some momentum and get it used even further around the world.

Mene Pangalos, AstraZeneca’s biopharmaceuticals research chief, told The Associated Press.

Ruud Dobber, president of AstraZeneca’s biopharmaceuticals business unit told CNBC Monday “The company plans to apply for emergency use authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration in the first half of April”.

Stephen Evans, a professor of pharmacoepidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said in a statement to the Science Media Center in the UK “It is clear this vaccine has very good efficacy (remember that 60% was, prior to any trials being started, regarded as a good target), and that this efficacy does not show a notable decline at older ages”.

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Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert told AP “There are very many countries in Europe and throughout the world who have already authorized this, so the fact that a United States-run study has confirmed the efficacy and the safety of this vaccine I think is an important contribution to global health in general”.

According to AP, the AstraZeneca vaccine has been authorized in more than 70 countries and is the main vaccine distributed by UN via COVAX to World’s “poorer countries. It has also become a key tool in European countries’ efforts to boost their sluggish vaccine rollouts. That made doubts about the shots especially worrying”.

“The AstraZeneca shot is what scientists call a “viral vector” vaccine. The shots are made with a harmless cold virus that normally infects chimpanzees. It acts like a Trojan horse to carry genetic material from the coronavirus’s spike protein into the body. That primes the immune system to fight back if the real virus comes along,” adds AP.

NIAD Statement

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) said in a statement on Tuesday that the Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) notified federal officials and the company that “it was concerned by information released by AstraZeneca on initial data from its COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial.”

“Late Monday, the Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) notified NIAID, BARDA, and AstraZeneca that it was concerned by information released by AstraZeneca on initial data from its COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial. The DSMB expressed concern that AstraZeneca may have included outdated information from that trial, which may have provided an incomplete view of the efficacy data. We urge the company to work with the DSMB to review the efficacy data and ensure the most accurate, up-to-date efficacy data be made public as quickly as possible.”

According to The Associated Press the company was “looking into it.” 

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