GENEVA (Reuters) – More producers of COVID-19 vaccines should follow the example of AstraZeneca and license their technology to other manufacturers, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday, as he described vaccine inequity as “grotesque”.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted that the drugmaker said earlier that interim data from trials found the vaccine, developed in conjunction with Oxford University, was 79% effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 and, crucially, posed no increased risk of blood clots.
“This data is further evidence that the AstraZeneca vaccine is safe and effective,” Tedros told a news conference.
(Reporting by John Miller, Emma Farge and Silke Koltrowitz; writing by Stephanie Nebehay)
