AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine was
79%
effective
in preventing the disease, according to phase III of a trial developed in the United States, the British pharmacist said Monday.
She also noted that the vaccine is 100% effective in preventing serious illness and hospitalizations.
The analysis was based on 32,449 participants, of which 141 cases were symptomatic.
More than 20,000 received at least one dose of the vaccine while the rest received placebo.
The vaccine was effective for all types of people and ages.
In participants 65 and older, the vaccine's efficacy was 80%, according to the company.
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Following a review of thrombosis cases, after which several countries discontinued its use, an independent data monitoring committee did not identify any safety concerns related to the vaccine.
This committee carried out a specific review of these events, as well as cases of
cerebral thrombosis
, with the help of an independent neurologist and
found no increased risk of thrombosis
among participants who received at least one dose of the vaccine.
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Although the AstraZeneca vaccine has been licensed in more than 50 countries, it
has not yet received a green light in the US
Scientists have been waiting for the results of the US study in the hope that it will clear up some of the confusion about the actual efficacy of The injections.
The first results of this study are only preliminary data that AstraZeneca is required to submit to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
An agency committee will publicly discuss the evidence behind the injections before deciding whether to allow emergency use of the vaccine.
Controversy in Europe
The UK first licensed the vaccine based on partial results of tests conducted both there and in Brazil and South Africa, which suggested that the vaccines were approximately 70% effective.
But those results were clouded by a manufacturing error that caused some participants to receive only half a dose for their first injection, a mistake the researchers did not immediately recognize.
Some European countries, including Germany, France and Belgium, did not initially administer the vaccine to older adults and only reversed their decision after new data suggested that it did offer protection to older adults.
[Why have at least 10 countries in Europe paused the AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19 and what are the consequences]
Last week, more than a dozen countries, mostly European,
temporarily suspended the use
of AstraZeneca
injection
following reports of its link to some cases of blood clots.
But on Thursday, the European Medicines Agency concluded, after an investigation, that
the vaccine did not increase the overall risk of blood clots
, although it could not rule out that it was related to two very rare types of clots.
France, Germany, Italy and other countries
resumed use of the vaccine on Friday,
and politicians such as UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson got the vaccine to show that it is safe.
The news comes after officials of the Administration chaired by Joe Biden announced that the US will provide four million of said vaccine to Mexico and Canada: 2.5 to the first and 1.5 to the second.
Due to the tens of millions of doses that the United States has in store, this does not jeopardize Biden's goals that all adults can be vaccinated if they wish in the United States beginning in late May regardless of age.
With information from The Associated Press.
