Washington, March 25: The COVID-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca was 76 percent against the deadly virus. AstraZeneca on Thursday released a new study of up-to-date results for its United States trial. The pharmaceutical company on Monday released interim data from a 32,000-person trial, in which it had showed that its vaccine's efficacy was 79 percent in preventing symptomatic illness in a large trial in the US. AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 Vaccine to be Tested on Children of Age Group 6 to 17 Years for the First Time.

A day after AstraZeneca released results of interim trials, the US-based National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) expressed concern that British-Swedish pharmaceutical may have provided outdated information on the efficacy data related to the clinical trial of its COVID-19 vaccine. The trials were conducted this winter in the US, Chile and Peru. AstraZeneca Confirms Strong Vaccine Protection After US Rift.

Earlier, the Phase III AstraZeneca trials in the US showed an efficacy of 80 percent in people over the age of 65, the most vulnerable group for contracting COVID-19 with deadly consequences. Notably, 20 percent of the trial participants were over the age of 65. The vaccine, known by the scientific name 'AZD1222', was 100 percent effective in preventing hospitalisation, the company had said in a statement. It implies that those who contract coronavirus after getting vaccinated will have only less severe symptoms and did not need intensive treatment in a hospital.

Till Now, AstraZeneca has been granted conditional marketing or emergency use authorisation in over 70 countries. Earlier this month, several European countries had temporarily suspended the emergency use authorisation as reports of rare blood clotting disorder in a small group of people surfaced after getting vaccinated. However, the European Union's drug regulator last week gave a green signal to the vaccine.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 25, 2021 09:14 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).