AstraZeneca: US data shows vaccine effective for all ages

AstraZeneca: US data shows vaccine effective for all ages

LONDON (AP) “” AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine provided strong protection against sickness and eliminated hospitalizations and deaths from the disease across all age groups in a late-stage study in the United States, the company announced Monday.

AstraZeneca said its experts did not identify any safety concerns related to the vaccine, including finding no increased risk of rare blood clots identified in Europe.

Although AstraZeneca's vaccine has been authorized in more than 50 countries, it has not yet been given the green light in the US “” and has struggled to gain public trust amid a troubled rollout. The study comprised more than 30,000 volunteers, of whom two-thirds were given the vaccine while the rest got dummy shots.

In a statement, AstraZeneca said its COVID-19 vaccine was 79 percent effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19 and was 100 percent effective in stopping severe disease and hospitalization, though it has not yet published full data. Investigators said the vaccine worked across all ages, including older people “” something experts wanted better data on. Two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine were given to people four weeks apart.

"These findings reconfirm previous results observed,“ said Ann Falsey, of the University of Rochester School of Medicine, who helped lead the trial.