BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — Dr. Zeke McKinney is leading an AstraZeneca trial at HealthPartners and says it could get emergency authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in about a month, and certainly by May.
"I think once we see it approved here maybe that will raise confidence for everybody," said Dr. McKinney, who is one year into the two year trial with the healthcare provider.
AstraZeneca released a report that says it's 79% effective at preventing COVID-19 and it's also the only vaccine that's 100% effective against severe disease and hospitalizations. Dr. McKinney says studies show it also reduces transmission by two-thirds.
"That's the step that helps us get back to opening the world back up; when I know that if people are people vaccinated, they're not going to be spreading the disease around to those who aren't," said Dr. McKinney.
In Europe, people's confidence in AstraZeneca was recently shaken when it was temporarily suspended after possible blood clotting disorders.
Dr. McKinney said the chance that you could experience a rare allergic reaction to a vaccine is one in a million. Researchers are also trying to figure out if the clots were, in fact, related to the vaccine.
"At this moment there has still not been proof that there's a causal association or that those are completely linked," said Dr. McKinney. "So it's better overall to get vaccinated and that's the argument everyone is making and I strongly agree with that statement."
Getting the FDA's authorization may not only help boost people's confidence in the vaccine in the U.S., but around the world as well. Dr. McKinney says some people view the FDA's vaccine review process as more rigorous and tightly controlled.
"For countries that are less developed or less industrialized than the United States with less access to financial resources, this is one that can be distributed everywhere," he said.
Dr. McKinney says the AstraZeneca vaccine is also 10 times cheaper than Pfizer and Moderna and up to three times cheaper than Johnson and Johnson. It also doesn't require extremely cold storage requirements, leading to its use in the real world and a new nickname -- the "global vaccine".
"I've been waiting this whole time for that to happen just so we can have greater access for everybody out there," said Dr. McKinney.
Dr. McKinney says most people participating in AstraZeneca trials are reporting side effects similar to the other vaccines like headaches, fever and chills.