AstraZeneca US trials thrown into doubt after promising data

WASHINGTON: A US health agency raised concerns Tuesday that AstraZeneca may have included out-of-date information during trials of its Covid-19 vaccine, a day after the company said its drug was highly effective in preventing the disease.

The vaccine concerns came as Brazil's daily coronavirus death toll soared past 3,000 for the first time, highlighting the pandemic's worsening outlook in many parts of the world.

AstraZeneca stood by its assessment of the results of its US trials, saying it would publish new data "within 48 hours" in response to concerns raised by the US National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases.

In more bad publicity for the Anglo-Swedish pharma giant, French authorities said they are investigating the death of a 26-year-old medical student days after he received their Covid-19 vaccine, while stressing that no link had been established yet with the shot.

The fresh problems for the drugmaker, which had on Monday hailed its vaccine as 79 percent effective at preventing Covid-19, come as Europe continues to wrangle over shortages of doses and after weeks of safety concerns.

With AstraZeneca delivering only 30 percent of the doses it promised the EU for the first quarter, Germany threw its weight behind a ban on European exports of the vaccine, while also announcing strict virus measures over Easter to contain spiraling infections.

The European Commission will on Wednesday adopt "a revision of the export transparency and authorization mechanism," a spokesman in Brussels told journalists.

Meanwhile, Britain marked the anniversary of its first coronavirus lockdown by holding a minute's silence for the more than 126,000 people who have died in the country from Covid-19, the fifth-highest death toll in the world.

The global death toll now stands at more than 2.7 million.

Brazil's health ministry registered a record 3,251 fatalities in 24 hours, bringing the country's overall death toll to nearly 299,000 -- second only to the United States.

The latest bleak milestone came on the same day President Jair Bolsonaro installed his fourth health minister of the pandemic, facing pressure to change tack after downplaying the virus and flouting expert advice.

Meanwhile across the border in Uruguay, President Luis Lacalle Pou announced the closure of public offices and the total suspension of face-to-face classes until later dates in April to staunch a sharp increase in infections.