The World Health Organization said its immunology team has yet to receive crucial information from the company about its coronavirus vaccine trial results.
WHO’s Department of Immunization, Vaccines, and Biologicals needs access to full clinical trial results for the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and researchers at the University of Oxford. Dr. Katherine O’Brien, director of the Immunization, Vaccines, and Biologicals department said at the Friday media briefing that “what we have seen is a press release.”
“And what is really the next most important step is that the data needs to be evaluated based on more than a press release,” O’Brien added.
AstraZeneca and Oxford announced Monday that the vaccine candidate had an average 70% effectiveness based on evidence that one dosage amount was roughly 90% effective and another was 62% effective.
