The SMC’s mission is to improve the public understanding of science by ensuring that the news media has easy access to the very best experts and evidence when science hits the headlines.
A preprint, an unpublished non-peer reviewed study, posted on Research Square looks at the clinical and laboratory features of 9 patients who exhibited blood clotting events following vaccination with the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
A preprint, an unpublished non-peer reviewed study, looks at the T-cell and antibody respondes to the first dose of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in previously infected and infection-naïve UK healthcare workers.
Analysis carried out by Public Health England (PHE) suggests that COVID-19 vaccines have prevented thousands of deaths in those aged 70 and older in England in the initial months of the vaccine programme.
AstraZeneca have published a press release stating that the primary analysis of the Phase III trial of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in the US have confirmed vaccine efficacy consistent with the pre-specified interim analysis announced on Monday 22 March 2021.
A Daily Telegraph exclusive article (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/03/23/exclusive-children-line-covid-vaccines-august/) reported on discussions around children in the UK being offered COVID-19 vaccines in summer. A spokesperson from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has said: “no decisions have been made on whether children should be offered vaccinations”.
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has released a statement that the Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) has expressed concern that AstraZeneca may have included outdated information from the US clinical trial of their COVID-19 vaccine, and that this information may have provided an incomplete view of the efficacy data.
AstraZeneca has published a press release announcing that the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine US Phase 3 trial met primary efficacy endpoint in preventing COVID-19 at interim analysis.
The UK NHS has warned of a significant reduction in COVID-19 vaccine supply in England next month.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) have concluded that the benefits of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine still outweigh the risks despite possible link to rare blood clots with low blood platelets.
The UK medicines regulator has released a statement following suspensions of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine by some European countries over suspected blood clots.
A series of European countries have paused their roll out of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
It has been reported that Germany have now halted the administration of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine following reports of adverse events related to blood clots in some countries.
There have been reports that the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine has been suspended in the Republic of Ireland following reports of blood clotting events in Norway.
The UK Science Media Centre has its roots in the influential House of Lords Science and Technology Select Committee third report on Science and Society, which sought to renew public trust in science after media frenzies on GM Crops and MMR. Established in 2002, it is an independent press office with a database of 3000 top quality scientists prepared to engage with journalists.
The Centre proactively makes the best scientists available to:
-Answer journalists questions on topical controversies
-Comment on breaking news and challenge misleading claims
- Assess new scientific findings, highlighting caveats and limitations
-Publicise new science in a measured and accurate way
The SMC’s philosophy is:
“The media will DO science better when scientists DO the media better.”
The UK Science Media Centre has its roots in the influential House of Lords Science and Technology Select Committee third report on Science and Society, which sought to renew public trust in science after media frenzies on GM Crops and MMR. Established in 2002, it is an independent press office with a database of 3000 top quality scientists prepared to engage with journalists.
The Centre proactively makes the best scientists available to:
-Answer journalists questions on topical controversies
-Comment on breaking news and challenge misleading claims
- Assess new scientific findings, highlighting caveats and limitations
-Publicise new science in a measured and accurate way
The SMC’s philosophy is:
“The media will DO science better when scientists DO the media better.”
