AstraZeneca novel COVID-19 vaccine can be 90% effective, results show

AstraZeneca announced that its vaccine for the novel coronavirus could be around 90 percent effective without any serious side effects, the latest drugmaker to unveil positive interim data in a scientific race to curb a global pandemic.

The vaccine developed by Oxford University was 90 percent effective in preventing COVID-19 when it was administered as a half dose followed by a full dose at least one month apart, according to data from the late-stage trials in Britain and Brazil.

No serious safety events related to the vaccine have been confirmed and it was well tolerated across both dosing regimens, it said.

Last week, AstraZeneca Egypt chief executive Hatem Al-Wardani said the company, in cooperation with the University of Oxford, was on track to report early data from a late-stage clinical trial of its experimental coronavirus vaccine.