US trial confirms Astra-Zeneca is 79% effective at stopping symptomatic COVID and 100% effective at preventing people from falling seriously ill

Results from the long-awaited US trial of the Oxford AstraZeneca COVID vaccine are out and confirm that the shot is both safe and highly effective.

The BBC reports that more than 32,000 volunteers took part, mostly in America, but also in Chile and Peru.

The vaccine is 79% effective at stopping symptomatic COVID disease and 100% effective at preventing people from falling seriously ill.

And there are no safety issues regarding blood clots.

The US trial should further reassure some EU countries that recently paused rollout of the vaccine amid concerns about a possible link.

Some are already starting to use it again now that Europe's medicines regulator has completed its review and has also concluded the vaccine is safe and effective.

Fiji has rolled out the first phase of Astra-Zeneca and health officials are now awaiting more batches of the doses under the COVAX facility.

Data from this new trial - run by experts at Columbia University and the University of Rochester in collaboration with AstraZeneca - may also prove useful in reassuring people about how well the vaccine works to protect the elderly against COVID-19 illness.

Several countries initially would not authorise the use of the vaccine in adults over 65 years, citing lack of evidence.

Around a fifth of the volunteers in this trial were over 65 and the vaccine - given as two doses, four weeks apart - provided as much protection to them as to younger age groups.

Professor Sarah Gilbert, co-designer of the vaccine, said in many different countries and across age groups, the vaccine is providing a high level of protection against COVID-19 and they hope this will lead to even more widespread use of the vaccine in the global attempts to bring the pandemic to an end.

Professor Gilbert says there are always cases of people falling ill after receiving a vaccine, particularly when very large numbers are receiving a jab, but that does not mean that the vaccine is responsible for the problems.

She says it is really important that they get the chance to protect people as quickly as possible, and this Astra-Zeneca vaccine will save lives.