After a quarrel with its independent data safety monitoring board, AstraZeneca confirmed that its COVID-19 vaccine offers strong performance in protecting against COVID-19 in a U.S. study.
The company announced that the vaccine was 76% effective against symptomatic COVID-19. That figure was three points lower than the percentage it released on Monday. The data safety monitoring board had accused the company of cherry-picking data to inflate its efficacy rating. The 76% efficacy figure of the two-shot vaccine is marginally higher than that of the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The J&J vaccine was 72% effective in the U.S. and 66% globally.
The 76% efficacy rate for AstraZeneca’s vaccine reflects a more recent validation of the study’s statistical analysis, including COVID-19 cases reported later in the trial.
The data is 100% effective at protecting against severe disease and death, according to AstraZeneca.
The company could release complete data from its U.S study in April.
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