AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine reports error, kept under scanner

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AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine reports error, kept under scanner (Image tweeted by @Reuters)
AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine reports error, kept under scanner (Image tweeted by @Reuters)

New Delhi : Days after claiming promising results for COVID-19 vaccine, AstraZeneca is now surrounded with tough questions as the company admitted to a manufacturing error by a contractor.

According to the latest update, AstraZeneca, which is developing the vaccine in partnership with Oxford University, said that there were different effectiveness results from two different dose regimes.

Two different dosage of the vaccine showed two different results – one was 90 per cent effective and other was 62 per cent.

A report in the New York Times on Wednesday suggested that AstraZeneca made a key “mistake” in the vaccine dosage received by some volunteers only after disclosing the preliminary results.

Since the error has not been diagnosed from the data of older people, it is unlikely that the US will allow emergency use of the AstraZeneca medicine.

Meanwhile, Serum Institute of India on Thursday said that the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University is safe and effective, and the Indian trials are progressing smoothly with strict adherence to all protocols.

Asking people to be patient and not panic, the Serum Institute of India (SII) said in a statement, “The AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine is safe and effective. Even the lowest efficacy results are at 60-70%, making it a viable vaccine against the virus.”

That said, varied age groups with different dosage forms will result in slight variations and efficacy. “We must be patient and not panic,” it added.