<p>AstraZeneca Plc's Covid-19 vaccine demonstrated 74 per cent efficacy at preventing symptomatic disease, a figure that increased to 83.5 per cent in people aged 65 and older, according to long-awaited results of the company's US clinical trial published on Wednesday.</p>.<p>Overall efficacy of 74 per cent was lower than the interim 79 per cent figure reported by the British drugmaker in March, a result AstraZeneca revised days later to 76 per cent after a rare public rebuke from health officials that the figure was based on "outdated information."</p>.<p>The data looked at more than 26,000 volunteers in the United States, Chile and Peru, who received two doses of the vaccine spaced about a month apart. The results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.</p>.<p>There were no cases of severe or critical symptomatic Covid-19 among the more than 17,600 participants who got the vaccine, compared with 8 such cases among the 8,500 volunteers who got the placebo. There were also two deaths in the placebo group but none among those who received the vaccine.</p>.<p><strong><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/india-will-allow-export-of-8-million-indo-pacific-vaccine-doses-pm-modi-1033996.html" target="_blank">Read | India will allow export of 8 million Indo-Pacific vaccine doses: PM Modi</a></strong></p>.<p>"I was pleasantly surprised," Dr. Anna Durbin, a vaccine researcher at Johns Hopkins University and one of the study's investigators, said of the overall result. "It was also highly protective against severe disease and hospitalization," she said.</p>.<p>There were no cases of a rare but serious blood clotting side effect called thrombosis with thrombocytopenia that has been liked to the AstraZeneca vaccine developed with Oxford University researchers.</p>.<p>AstraZeneca said in late July it planned to file for full approval with the US Food and Drug Administration, rather than seek emergency use authorization. Chief Executive Pascal Soriot told a media briefing at the time he hoped the vaccine could still play a role in the United States, even though the process was taking longer than expected.</p>.<p>The company is exploring booster doses for people who have already been vaccinated with two doses of either its own shot or mRNA-based vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna.</p>.<p>The vaccine, known as Vaxzevria, is authorized for use in more than 170 countries. A spokesperson said the company expects to file for US approval later this year.</p>.<p>Durbin said she does not expect Vaxzevria to be used much in the United States, but securing FDA approval "does give them gravitas." </p>
<p>AstraZeneca Plc's Covid-19 vaccine demonstrated 74 per cent efficacy at preventing symptomatic disease, a figure that increased to 83.5 per cent in people aged 65 and older, according to long-awaited results of the company's US clinical trial published on Wednesday.</p>.<p>Overall efficacy of 74 per cent was lower than the interim 79 per cent figure reported by the British drugmaker in March, a result AstraZeneca revised days later to 76 per cent after a rare public rebuke from health officials that the figure was based on "outdated information."</p>.<p>The data looked at more than 26,000 volunteers in the United States, Chile and Peru, who received two doses of the vaccine spaced about a month apart. The results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.</p>.<p>There were no cases of severe or critical symptomatic Covid-19 among the more than 17,600 participants who got the vaccine, compared with 8 such cases among the 8,500 volunteers who got the placebo. There were also two deaths in the placebo group but none among those who received the vaccine.</p>.<p><strong><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/india-will-allow-export-of-8-million-indo-pacific-vaccine-doses-pm-modi-1033996.html" target="_blank">Read | India will allow export of 8 million Indo-Pacific vaccine doses: PM Modi</a></strong></p>.<p>"I was pleasantly surprised," Dr. Anna Durbin, a vaccine researcher at Johns Hopkins University and one of the study's investigators, said of the overall result. "It was also highly protective against severe disease and hospitalization," she said.</p>.<p>There were no cases of a rare but serious blood clotting side effect called thrombosis with thrombocytopenia that has been liked to the AstraZeneca vaccine developed with Oxford University researchers.</p>.<p>AstraZeneca said in late July it planned to file for full approval with the US Food and Drug Administration, rather than seek emergency use authorization. Chief Executive Pascal Soriot told a media briefing at the time he hoped the vaccine could still play a role in the United States, even though the process was taking longer than expected.</p>.<p>The company is exploring booster doses for people who have already been vaccinated with two doses of either its own shot or mRNA-based vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna.</p>.<p>The vaccine, known as Vaxzevria, is authorized for use in more than 170 countries. A spokesperson said the company expects to file for US approval later this year.</p>.<p>Durbin said she does not expect Vaxzevria to be used much in the United States, but securing FDA approval "does give them gravitas." </p>