LONDON — A large U.S. trial of the AstraZeneca vaccine shows it to be 79-percent effective in preventing COVID-19.
The study released today also shows the vaccine is 100-percent effective against severe infections requiring hospitalization. The findings, which included more than 32,000 participants, may boost confidence in the vaccine, which was originally developed by the University of Oxford.
These trial results, part of which come from the Indianapolis area of the United States, follow decisions by the biggest European Union countries to suspend shots with the AstraZeneca vaccine after reports of blood clots in some people who received it.
Co-designer of the vaccine and professor of Vaccinology at Oxford University Sarah Gilbert hailed the data for providing “further confirmation of the safety and effectiveness” of the vaccine.
The data will be sent to the US regulators, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as part of an application for emergency authorization of the vaccine in the country, AstraZeneca said.
