Only hours after AstraZeneca announced encouraging news
about the effectiveness of its COVID-19 vaccine Monday, a group of medical
experts charged with monitoring the company’s clinical trial made a highly
unusual accusation: AstraZeneca had essentially cherry-picked data to make its
vaccine look better.
اضافة اعلان
The accusation, in a two-page letter sent Monday to the
company and federal officials, was a fresh blow to the credibility of a vaccine
whose low price and relatively easy storage have made it critical to the global
fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
The private letter, which was described by people who have
read it, castigated AstraZeneca for jeopardizing the integrity of a closely
watched clinical trial.
“Decisions like this are what erode public trust in the
scientific process,” the oversight board wrote.
The letter prompted the National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases to issue a sharply worded statement Tuesday shortly after
midnight, disclosing the panel’s concerns.
The fight is about the degree of effectiveness of a vaccine
that is undisputably effective.
While AstraZeneca said Monday that its vaccine appeared to
be 79 percent effective at preventing COVID-19, the panel of independent
experts said the actual number may have been between 69 percent and 74 percent.
The mass availability of a vaccine with even a 69 percent efficacy rate could
help the world conquer the coronavirus.
Fears that the vaccine might trigger rare but serious side
effects had led more than a dozen countries, mostly in Europe, to temporarily
suspend the use of the shot. European regulators last week affirmed the
vaccine’s safety. The results from the US trial Monday — providing the
cleanest, most complete picture of the vaccine’s efficacy — seemed to validate
the vaccine’s safety and made it look more effective than in earlier trials.
In short, it bolstered the credibility of arguably the
world’s most important vaccine, one that has been authorized for use in more
than 70 countries. But the overnight announcement from the institute immediately
raised a new set of questions about it and AstraZeneca.
“If they keep making these unforced errors, then that’s
going to derail confidence, and that will really affect our ability to combat
this pandemic,” said Dr. Peter J. Hotez, a vaccine expert at the Baylor College
of Medicine.
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