WEBVTT - Efficacy of AstraZeneca Vaccine Called Into Question After Using Outdated Data

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<v Speaker 1>It's Wednesday, March. I'm Oscar Ramirez from the Daily Dive

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<v Speaker 1>podcast in Los Angeles, and this is reopening America from

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<v Speaker 1>good news to questions and concerns. Astra Zeneca released details

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<v Speaker 1>from its US trials that they're vaccine is seventy effective

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<v Speaker 1>against COVID nineteen. Then hours later, federal officials said that

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<v Speaker 1>they might have used outdated information and was missing a

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<v Speaker 1>month's worth of data, another misstep in the rollout. Karen Wine,

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<v Speaker 1>trial health reporter at USA Today, joins us for the latest.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for joining us, Karen Sure, Karen, I'm glad we

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<v Speaker 1>can get you back on so we can follow this

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<v Speaker 1>story of astra Zeneca. So we spoke on Monday about

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<v Speaker 1>the good news from aster Zeneca. Their news out of

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<v Speaker 1>their clinical trials in the US said that their vaccine

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<v Speaker 1>was seventy nine effective against symptomatic cases of COVID, a

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<v Speaker 1>hundred percent effective against severe cases, and prevented hospitalization. So

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<v Speaker 1>it's all very good news. And then very early Tuesday

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<v Speaker 1>a morning, we got some new news that they might

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<v Speaker 1>have been using outdated information, and this kind of called

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<v Speaker 1>into question what the true efficacy is. I know astra

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<v Speaker 1>Zeneca has had some other problems in the past a

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<v Speaker 1>little bit, so now there's a lot more questions than

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<v Speaker 1>we had before. So Karen, help us walk through what

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<v Speaker 1>the update is. I wish I could tell you more about.

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<v Speaker 1>We actually don't know what the new data is. They've

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<v Speaker 1>promised it within the next forty eight hours. That was

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<v Speaker 1>this morning, so maybe we will talk again on another

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<v Speaker 1>day or two. But it has raised questions about that

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<v Speaker 1>efficacy figure. And the issue is in the last month

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<v Speaker 1>there have likely been more people in the trial infected.

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<v Speaker 1>We don't know how many were in the vaccine arm

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<v Speaker 1>versus the placebo arm, and therefore how effective the vaccine

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<v Speaker 1>has been at preventing any symptomatic COVID disease or severe

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<v Speaker 1>disease people hospitalize, that sort of thing. This is coming

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<v Speaker 1>from the Data Safety Monitoring Board, so they look they're

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<v Speaker 1>an independent group, you know. They said that they were

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<v Speaker 1>concerned about that outdated data. Dr Anthony Fauci weighed in

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<v Speaker 1>on all of this and said, it's kind of a

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<v Speaker 1>shame that that happened, but this is also one of

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<v Speaker 1>those safeguards. This is why we have all these independent boards,

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<v Speaker 1>and this kind of shows that the system is working.

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<v Speaker 1>People should feel better about the vaccine, I guess, but

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<v Speaker 1>it does raise questions about why they released the information

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<v Speaker 1>they did. Obviously, the more up to date information will becoming.

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<v Speaker 1>They did qualify it as interim data, but they didn't

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<v Speaker 1>specify that it was as of February seventeenth and not

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<v Speaker 1>the current data. So it raises questions that didn't need

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<v Speaker 1>to be raised. I guess is the best way to

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<v Speaker 1>put it, and that's the discussion now right. So Dr

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<v Speaker 1>Anthony Fauci put it as a safeguard, UH saying that

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<v Speaker 1>this was a safeguard. There's a lot of other experts saying, well,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, this raises all those unwanted questions. Could it

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<v Speaker 1>undermine the vaccine? Could it pose more hesitancy to the vaccine.

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<v Speaker 1>Astra Zeneca, for their part, already had a few missteps

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<v Speaker 1>throughout their whole process. A lot of this happening in Europe.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, we talked about the blood clots yesterday. France

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<v Speaker 1>is another example when they said it's not effective for

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<v Speaker 1>older people. Backtrack then the blood clout thing, and you know,

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<v Speaker 1>so that they've had all these missteps throughout the way,

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<v Speaker 1>you could look at it as a sign that all

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<v Speaker 1>the other companies are doing incredibly well that they have

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<v Speaker 1>not made these kinds of missteps. But yes, it does

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<v Speaker 1>seem like there's a cloud over this particular vaccine with

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<v Speaker 1>a number of problems even dating back to September. And

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<v Speaker 1>then tell me a little bit about you know, the

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<v Speaker 1>promise or astros nic. They were it was going to

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<v Speaker 1>be one of the cheapest and easiest to distribute, So

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of developing countries were looking at this vaccine

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<v Speaker 1>as something that they could be using. Just tell me

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<v Speaker 1>a little bit about how that figured into the whole

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<v Speaker 1>picture of vaccine distribution. Sure, well, this one was considered

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<v Speaker 1>the front runner. Last year. The US government bought three

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<v Speaker 1>hundred million doses of this vaccine while it bought a

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<v Speaker 1>hundred million of others, because it saw it as the

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<v Speaker 1>most promising vaccine. And again, it's easier to distribute, It

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<v Speaker 1>doesn't need to be kept in a freezer. It can

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<v Speaker 1>be distributed along the normal chain of vaccine distribution, and

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<v Speaker 1>it's relatively inexpensive. So it was thought that this would

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<v Speaker 1>be the answer for rural areas, for countries that don't

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<v Speaker 1>have a strong infrastructure of freezers and that sort of thing.

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<v Speaker 1>So it really has had been seen as the potential

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<v Speaker 1>savior of the developing world in terms of vaccination, and

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<v Speaker 1>hopefully it still will be. This is not as Dr

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<v Speaker 1>Fauci said this morning, this is probably still this is

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<v Speaker 1>still a very good vaccine. We haven't seen all the

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<v Speaker 1>data yet, but hopefully it will confirm it. In terms

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<v Speaker 1>of older people the UK or in Europe, there were

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<v Speaker 1>questions raised about whether the vaccine would be effective in

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<v Speaker 1>older people because it wasn't tested very much in older

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<v Speaker 1>people there. It was included. Older people were included in

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<v Speaker 1>the study in the US and again according to data

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<v Speaker 1>they released yesterday, so we don't know if this needs

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<v Speaker 1>to be updated, but it was effective among those over

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<v Speaker 1>sixty five, so it appeared to be extremely effective even

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<v Speaker 1>in older people. I mean, we'll have to wait for

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<v Speaker 1>that data obviously. My sense is that it will still

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<v Speaker 1>come back safe and effective at a pretty decent number.

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<v Speaker 1>But you know where that number lies is what's going

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<v Speaker 1>to be the interesting part. And just talking about those

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<v Speaker 1>misteps that have happened so far across the pond, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>in Europe, in Norway, in places like Romania, they're saying

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<v Speaker 1>that people are rejecting it. They had all these sites

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<v Speaker 1>set up and appointments that got canceled. People just flat

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<v Speaker 1>out saying they don't want it. So, you know, I

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<v Speaker 1>hope it doesn't really bog them down too much, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>this kind of reporting error, you know, failing to disclose

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<v Speaker 1>all of the information. That way, it's probably still going

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<v Speaker 1>to be safe, but we'll have to see what happens there.

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<v Speaker 1>As someone told me off the record this morning, it's

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<v Speaker 1>still probably a very good vaccine. The problem maybe at

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<v Speaker 1>the management level. The jury is still out. Karen Wintrild,

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<v Speaker 1>health reporter at USA Today, Thank you very much for

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<v Speaker 1>joining us. Thanks so much for having me. I'm Oscar

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<v Speaker 1>Ramirez and this has been reopening America. Don't forget the effort.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's big news stories. You can check me out on

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<v Speaker 1>the Daily Dive podcast every Monday through Friday. So follow

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