AstraZeneca cuts vaccine efficacy to 76%

AstraZeneca insisted on Wednesday that its COVID-19 vaccine is highly effective even after factoring in additional illnesses in its controversial US study, the most recent statements in an extraordinary public disagreement with US officials.

In a press release, the company said it had recalculated the data from that study and concluded that the vaccine was 76% effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19, instead of the 79% it said there was. a few days.

A day earlier, an independent panel overseeing the study accused AstraZeneca of choosing the data at its convenience to promote the protection offered by its vaccine. The panel, in a difficult letter to the company and U.S. health officials, said the company had left out some cases of COVID-19 that arose during the study, a move that could undermine confidence in the science. .

Disputes over data during ongoing studies are generally kept confidential, but to an unusual extent, the National Institutes of Health have publicly urged AstraZeneca to correct the discrepancy.

The company relied on the results of a 32,000-person trial conducted primarily in the United States to help regain confidence in a vaccine that, although widely used in Britain, the European Union and in other countries, suffered some setbacks during distribution. Previous studies have presented inconsistent data on its effectiveness, and last week some countries suspended its application after detecting cases of clots in people to whom it was applied.

Now the question is whether the company’s latest calculations have put an end to the controversy.

Hours earlier on Wednesday, Dr.Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government’s top infectious disease specialist, told reporters he hoped that once all the data was publicly assessed by federal regulators, all doubts raised would be dispelled. He predicted that “it will be a good vaccine”.