British drugmaker AstraZeneca Plc on Monday said its coronavirus vaccine can prevent symptoms 79% of the time and is 100% effective at preventing severe disease and hospitalization.

“Vaccine efficacy was consistent across ethnicity and age,” the company said in an e-mailed statement, citing phase 3 clinical trials in the US. “Notably, in participants aged 65 years and over, vaccine efficacy was 80%.”

The trial involved 32,449 patients, two-thirds of whom received the vaccine, while the rest received a saline placebo.

The company said that there was no increased risk of blood clots among the 21,583 patients who received at least a dose of the vaccine..

AstraZeneca said it would continue to analyze the data and submit these to the US Food and Drug Administration for emergency use authorization in the coming weeks.

The Philippines received 526,200 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines this month under a global initiative for equal access.

Last week, it said its vaccine was safe after reports of blood clots in some patients in Europe. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas

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