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A board of independent experts tasked with monitoring the data and safety of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine trial has raised a red flag about the company’s press release yesterday, which trumpeted that the vaccine was 79 percent effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19.
In the wee hours of Tuesday, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases released an unusual statement indicating the trial’s Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) had been in touch with the federal agency as well as the company. The statement read:
The DSMB expressed concern that AstraZeneca may have included outdated information from that trial, which may have provided an incomplete view of the efficacy data. We urge the company to work with the DSMB to review the efficacy data and ensure the most accurate, up-to-date efficacy data be made public as quickly as possible.
In an interview with Good Morning America this morning, NIAID director and top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci tried to add more context to the situation. He noted that the DSMB, which has access to all of data from the AstaZeneca trial, was left surprised by what the company said in its press release.
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