INDIANAPOLIS — AstraZeneca announced Monday that the two-dose vaccine it developed with Oxford showed promising results in its U.S. trial and the company plans on applying for emergency use authorization with the FDA.
Of the 30,000 people involved, the company said the vaccine showed it was 79 percent effective at preventing symptomatic cases of COVID-19 and provided 100 percent protection against severe disease, hospitalizations and death.
"It's a very good vaccine," said Paul Caulkins with IU Health. "I think it's going to produce some reassurance on the other side of the world."
Caulkins said the trial here demonstrated the vaccine was effective including people over 65 — something that had been missing from trials in other parts of the world.
The vaccine, authorized for use in some 70 other countries, has suffered from a reputation problem. Some countries halted use over concerns about side effects including blood clots. But the company and independent medical authorities said there is no evidence of a connection.
NBC News reports there were no reports of blood clots in the U.S. trial.
Other countries resumed giving the shot late last week.
"You can rest assured that the FDA will put a great deal of scrutiny if every aspect of this data," said Dr. Anthony Fauci on Monday.
Some say even if and when the vaccine is approved, there will already likely be enough vaccine in the U.S.
"We've already got a lot of vaccine," Caulkins said. "And I'm not sure what an AstraZeneca adds here in the United States because the vaccine is starting to come pretty fast."
The White House has said there will be enough doses for all adults by the end of May from the three manufacturers already approved for use here.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.