4th COVID-19 Vaccine Could Be On The Way To US
FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - The United States could be on the brink of another coronavirus vaccine.
AstraZeneca announced some early results of their trial that show the vaccine is 79% effective at preventing symptomatic COVD-19, and 100% effective at preventing severe disease and hospitalization.
The pharmaceutical company said in a news release, it plans to submit for Emergency Use Authorization in the coming weeks.
Dr. Meenakshi Ramanathan, an infectious disease clinical pharmacist at UNT Health Science Center, explained the patients were randomized in a two to one fashion.
"So two patients received the vaccine, and one patient received the placebo," she said.
The study involves nearly 30,000 volunteers and 20,000 received the vaccine.
Dr. Ramanathan said, based on the results, there shouldn't be too much concern surrounding some earlier reports involving rare blood clots.
"When they were comparing their results they didn't see any difference in terms of the blood clots between both of those groups, so that's really good news," she said.
Europe's medical regulator deemed the vaccine "safe and effective" last week, and said it is not associated with a higher risk of blood clots.
Dr. Nikhil Bhayani with Texas Health Resources said based on what he's seen, the vaccine does appear to be relatively safe.
Both doctors told CBS 11 News that for now at least, it appears to be an effective tool that could help us reach herd immunity.
"With more vaccine availability it increases the supply chain, especially distribution," said Dr. Bhayani. "Therefore, more people will have the option of getting vaccinated."
"I'm often asked which vaccine is the best vaccine, and it truly is the one that you're offered," said Dr. Ramanathan.