Results from a US trial of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine may have included “outdated information” and that could mean the company provided an incomplete view of efficacy data, American federal health officials said early on Tuesday. AstraZeneca said in a statement that the data it released on Monday included cases up to February 17, as the study rules specified, and that it was continuing to analyse cases that have occurred since then. The company said that a preliminary analysis of data that has continued to roll in was consistent with what it had already reported. It promised an update within 48 hours. AstraZeneca reported on Monday that its Covid-19 vaccine provided strong protection among adults of all ages in a long-anticipated US study, a finding that some experts hoped would help rebuild public confidence in the shot around the world and move it a step closer to clearance in the US In the study of more than 30,000 people, the company reported that the vaccine was found to be 79 per cent effective at preventing symptomatic cases of Covid-19 – including in older adults. There were no severe illnesses or hospitalisation among vaccinated volunteers, compared with five such cases in participants who received dummy shots – a small number, but consistent with findings from Britain and other countries that the vaccine protects against the worst of the disease. AstraZeneca also said the study’s independent safety monitors found no serious side effects, including no increased risk of rare blood clots like those identified in Europe, a scare that led numerous countries to briefly suspend vaccinations last week. But just hours after those encouraging results were reported, the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases issued an unusual statement. The agency said the Data and Safety Monitoring Board “expressed concern that AstraZeneca may have included outdated information from that trial, which may have provided an incomplete view of the efficacy data”. “We urge the company to work with the DSMB to review the efficacy data and ensure the most accurate, up-to-date efficacy data be made public as quickly as possible,” the statement added. The company aims to file an application with the Food and Drug Administration in the coming weeks, and the government’s outside advisers will then publicly debate the evidence. Authorisation and guidelines for use of the vaccine in the United States will be determined by the FDA and Centres for Disease Control and Prevention after thorough review of the data by independent advisory committees. Germany extends lockdown through Easter Germany will enter a strict shutdown for five days over Easter amid surging virus rates, Chancellor Angela Merkel and regional leaders agreed on Tuesday as criticism mounted over the government’s handling of the pandemic. As well as extending existing measures including keeping cultural, leisure and sporting facilities shut through to April 18, Merkel and Germany’s 16 state premiers ordered a tougher shutdown between April 1 and 5. Almost all shops will be closed during the five days, and religious services will be moved online over Easter. Only grocers will be allowed to open on Saturday April 3. “The situation is serious. Case numbers are rising exponentially and intensive care beds are filling up again,” said Merkel. The British variant has become the dominant strain circulating in Germany, she said, noting: “We are in a new pandemic.” “Essentially, we have a new virus … it is much deadlier, much more infectious and infectious for much longer,” the veteran leader said. Vice-chancellor Olaf Scholz told public broadcaster ZDF it was “right to use the period of Easter to pull on the brakes”. But patience is running thin in Germany over a sluggish vaccine roll-out, a delayed start to mass rapid testing and higher infection numbers despite months of shutdowns, with support for Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union party at its lowest level for a year. Europe’s top economy will elect a new government in September, as Merkel is retiring after 16 years in power. Der Spiegel news magazine called the government’s repeated focus on tweaking shutdowns a “scandal”, claiming it had “completely the wrong priorities” and should instead focus on improving its vaccination campaign and test strategy. Dietmar Bartsch, a leading MP from the far-left opposition party Die Linke, said on Tuesday the chancellor and her ministers “should apologise to citizens” for the missteps. Germany registered 7,485 new infections in 24 hours on Tuesday, with 250 new deaths and an incidence rate of 108.1 new cases per 100,000 people over seven days, according to the Robert Koch Institute health agency. Czech Republic sees jump in reinfections Covid-19 reinfections are growing fast in the Czech Republic, which currently has the world’s highest per capita death rate from the disease, a state health institute said on Tuesday. The number of reinfections jumped to 1,400 by February 28 from 158 registered at the end of January and 56 at the end of 2020, data from the National Institute of Public Health have shown. “The reinfection rate is growing because of the significant number of Covid-19 cases during the autumn wave,” the institute said in a statement. The EU member of 10.7 million people has so far registered more than 25,000 deaths from almost 1.5 million Covid-19 cases. The Czech Republic’s relationship with China? It’s complicated The figures make it the world’s leader in deaths per capita and second worst in cases per capita, according to a tally based on data per 100,000 inhabitants over the past 14 days. The country managed to contain the first wave of the disease last spring, but it has been struggling to tame the spread since last summer. The institute said the interval between the first and second occurrences of the disease was 68-359 days with a median of 142 days, while the median age of those getting Covid again was 42. Given the data, the institute said it would still recommend people who already had Covid-19 to get a vaccine, though “with a certain interval”. A recent Danish study published in The Lancet magazine showed initial Covid-19 infection was likely to bestow 80-percent protection from reinfection among under-65s, while elderly people were more prone to reinfection. Reporting by Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France-Presse