A healthcare professional is preparing to inject a vaccine against AstraZeneca coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Eloisa Lopez
AstraZeneca published updated phase three test data for its Covid-19 vaccine on Wednesday, after facing precision issues earlier this week around a preliminary report from its study in the United States.
The company now says that its vaccine is 76% effective in protecting against symptomatic cases of viruses. A statement released on Monday reported a symptomatic efficacy rate of 79%. The updated report states that the injection is 100% effective against serious illness and hospitalization.
A list of U.S. health officials has criticized the company in recent days for what some have claimed is a selective collection of data in an effort to make the results appear more favorable.
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases revealed on Tuesday that it was informed that the UK-based company may have included information from its US results that provided an “incomplete view of efficacy data”.
AstraZeneca said at the time that the figures were based on a “pre-specified interim analysis” and promised to share updated analysis in the coming days.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical advisor to the White House and director of NIAID, called the situation “unfortunate” and said AstraZeneca was likely to issue a modified statement.
“This is really what you call an unforced error, because the fact is that it is most likely a very good vaccine,” Fauci told ABC’s Robin Roberts in “Good Morning America” on Tuesday. “That kind of thing really … casts some doubts about vaccines and maybe contributes to hesitation. It was not necessary.”
The updated results include data collected from 190 symptomatic cases in more than 32,000 participants – an increase of about 50 symptomatic cases studied compared to the data set released on Monday.
The results suggest that the vaccine is more effective in patients aged 65 years or older than previously thought, with a new reported efficacy rate of 85% for this population, against the 80% previously declared.
AstraZeneca reiterated on Wednesday that the vaccine was “well tolerated” among the participants and that no safety concerns were identified.
AstraZeneca has faced a different reaction in recent weeks due to reports of blood clotting in conjunction with its vaccine, which has already been approved and is in use by dozens of countries around the world. Several European countries suspended and then resumed using the vaccine after independent safety reviews.
—CNBC’s Berkeley Lovelace Jr., Sam Meredith and Steve Kopack contributed to this report.