𝐔𝐒 𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐀𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐙𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐚'𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐯𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐚 The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine against Covid has been dealt another blow within hours of AstraZeneca posting excellent results from its long-awaited big trial in the US. Questions have been raised in the US by the independent Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB), which has suggested that AstraZeneca may have provided “outdated information” in its statement on Monday, which gave “an incomplete view” of the results. AstraZeneca’s statement said efficacy in the trial of more than 32,000 people was 79% against symptomatic disease and 100% against severe disease and death. About 20% of participants were over the age of 65, to address the issue that had concerned some European countries as well as the US. Earlier trials did not include enough older people to be sure the vaccine worked in them. Nearly two-thirds of participants were not in the best of health: 60% had underlying conditions including diabetes, severe obesity and heart disease, which would put them at serious risk if they caught the virus. The trial, which took place in the US, Chile and Peru, also had a bigger mix of ethnicities. Experts were scrambling to understand the doubts of the DSMB, which were expressed in a statement from the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). There were fears it could undermine confidence in the vaccine, which is being painstakingly rebuilt following worries in Europe over first the age issue and then blood clots. ------------------------ Cre: The Guardian