Filenews 25 March 2021
The vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and oxford university for the new coronavirus is 76% effective in preventing symptomatic cases, the British-Swiss pharmaceutical company announced today, citing updated clinical trial data conducted in the US, Peru and Chile.
AstraZeneca vowed on Tuesday that it would announce recent data within less than 48 hours, following criticism from a US regulator, stressing that it may have released "outdated" data on its vaccine. The drug company had assured Monday that its vaccine was 79% effective in preventing symptomatic cases, citing preliminary study results.
The latest data relate to 190 infections among the 32,400 participants in the clinical trial. The previous one involved 141 infections by February 17. AstraZeneca plans to apply for an emergency license to use its product in the US in the coming weeks. She insisted today that her vaccine is 100% effective in preventing serious or critical cases, and that it has 85% efficacy among recipients 65 years of age and over.
This efficiency rate is well below the nearly 95% of Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna products. However, the AstraZeneca vaccine is considered crucial for tackling the pandemic of the new coronavirus on a global scale, mainly because it is easier and cheaper to transport and store. It has already been granted an emergency permit in over 70 countries. But production problems, fears about its side effects and questions about its effectiveness raise questions for AstraZeneca itself and many countries that rely on its product to advance vaccination campaigns.
Source: CYPE
