US officials have raised concerns that the data AstraZeneca released from its SARS-CoV-2 vaccine trial was outdated or incomplete, the New York Times reports.
According to the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the Data and Safety Monitoring Board informed the agency as well as BARDA and AstraZeneca about its concerns that the data released did not provide a complete view of the candidate vaccine's efficacy and could be misleading. In its statement, NIAID urged "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."
AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford had announced that their US SARS-CoV-2 vaccine trial indicated that their vaccine was 79 percent effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19. As the Verge notes, AstraZeneca has faced a number of issues when dealing with its vaccine, including a lack of transparency. Additionally, a number of countries briefly paused their use of the vaccine over worries about a rare side effect, the Times adds.
NIAID Director Anthony Fauci tells Good Morning America that this latest issue was an "unforced error" by the company and that its vaccine is likely very good.
AstraZeneca says in a statement that it will share its most up-to-date efficacy data within 48 hours, Business Insider notes.