U.S.- Findings from a new US-led study on the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine showing 79% effectiveness against symptomatic COVID-19 and 100% protection for serious diseases will give “greater confidence and credibility” to use of that prepared all over the world.

This was stated today in a virtual meeting by Mene Pangalos, the executive vice president of the R&D department of biopharmaceutical products at the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.

At that press conference, several experts commented on the results of phase III of a new clinical trial conducted among 32,449 people of all age groups in the US, Chile and Peru, in which there were a total of 141 cases of symptomatic covid-19.

“Seeing these data now, I trust that they serve to give others greater confidence that we are facing a very effective and safe vaccine, although we have never had any doubts,” said Pangalos, while noting that the results will also result in greater “credibility” for the preparation “around the world”.

The study shows that the vaccine, which was administered in two doses leaving an interval of four weeks in between, provides 80% protection when it comes to preventing people over 65 from developing the disease.

The research has been released at a time when the vaccine created by AstraZeneca has generated a lot of controversy in several European countries in recent weeks as it has been linked to very rare cases of blood clots.

Asked about this matter, another of the speakers, Professor Andrew Pollard, director of the Vaccine Group at the University of Oxford, recalled that both the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the British regulator “have reviewed thrombus events and not they have detected a general risk »that links them to the preparation, although« they are being analyzed in detail ».

“I have great confidence in our institutions to carry out these reviews,” said Pollard.

During the online meeting, the experts generally showed their confidence that the Oxford preparation will also be effective against emerging variants of the coronavirus.

“We are studying all the variants that concern us and we will analyze the different strains out there,” said Pangalos.

He added that since this new research “has been carried out much later, it is very encouraging to have obtained such a high efficiency in numbers, because there are undoubtedly variants in circulation in the study.”

Based on the data collected in the trial, the vaccine was well tolerated among participants and the independent safety oversight body (DSMB) did not identify ‘concerns’ related to the safety of the preparation.

The DSMB found no increased risk of thrombotic episodes among the 21,583 participants who received at least one dose of the vaccine.

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