AstraZeneca shot is good if safety issues can be overcome, U.S. official Fauci says

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FILE PHOTO: A vial of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is seen at the general practice of Doctor Claudia Schramm as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in Maintal, Germany, March 24, 2021. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

LONDON (Reuters) – U.S. infectious disease official Anthony Fauci said if safety concerns about AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine were straightened out it had good efficacy, but it might not be needed for Americans because of supplies of other shots.

“I think that the AstraZeneca vaccine from a standpoint of efficacy is a good vaccine, and if the safety issue gets straightened out in the European Union… the efficacy of that vaccine is really quite good,” he told BBC radio on Tuesday.

“Whether or not we ever use AZ is unclear but it looks right now at this point in time that we will not need it. It’s not a negative indictment of AZ, it is just possible that given the supply that we have from other companies that we may not need to use an AZ vaccine.”

The AstraZeneca vaccine is being investigated by European regulators over concerns about rare cases of blood clots. It has not yet been approved in the United States.

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