KAMPALA, Uganda (PA) – Suspension of AstraZeneca vaccine in several European countries over the past week could fuel skepticism about shooting far beyond their shores, potentially threatening to launch a vaccine that is key to the global strategy to eliminate the coronavirus pandemic, especially in developing countries.
As it stands, it is either AstraZeneca or nothing for some poorer countries. The vaccine from the Anglo-Swedish drug manufacturer is cheaper and easier to store than many others. It will represent almost all doses shipped in the first half of the year by COVAX, a consortium designed to ensure that low- and middle-income countries receive vaccines.
With few other options, most developing countries that had AstraZeneca on hand continued with it, even though major European countries suspended their use. in the last week, after reports of unusual blood clots were found in some recipients of the shooting – despite the insistence of international health agencies that there is no evidence that the vaccine is responsible.
But while governments in Africa and elsewhere have expressed a determination to continue using fire, not everyone is convinced.
“Why should I allow it to be used on me? Are we not new human beings like those in Europe? Peter Odongo, a resident of a city in northern Uganda, told the Daily Monitor this week.
The East African country has so far received 864,000 doses of AstraZeneca through COVAX, but administered less than 3,000 by Tuesday. Authorities have blamed logistical challenges in transporting vaccines deep into the country, but newspaper reports cite vaccine resistance.
Even before the most recent debate on AstraZeneca, vaccine skepticism has been a worldwide concern, as many people are hesitant about photos developed in record time. African countries have faced particular obstacles on a continent wary of being a test ground for the West. Some leaders pushed back against skepticism, while others, such as those in Burundi and Tanzania, fed it by denying the seriousness of COVID-19.
“Unfortunate events” in Europe “clearly will not help to build public confidence in strengthening public confidence in the safe use of that vaccine and other vaccines for sure,” said John Nkengasong, director of the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Diseases. , he told reporters on Thursday, while he encouraged African countries to continue their vaccinations.
This came hours before the European Union’s drug regulator sent the same message to its 27 members. The European Medicines Agency said its experts have concluded that the vaccine it is not linked to an overall increase in the risk of blood clots, although it could not definitively rule out a link to rare types of clots and vaccine. In response, countries, including Italy, France and Germany, have announced that they will resume using the photo.
Even before those reversals, several developing countries said they would stay on fire.
“We will continue vaccinations,” said Ethiopian Health Minister Lia Tadesse, who received 2.2 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine last week.
Authorities in India – home to the vaccine maker that is likely to make up much of the doses to the developing world – said on Wednesday they would continue AstraZeneca vaccinations with “full force” as infections spread to several parts of the world. of the country. After initially saying it would delay the use of the vaccine, Thailand said on Tuesday it would continue with AstraZeneca, and the prime minister was even shot in public.
Brazilian institute Fiocruz delivered the first bottled AstraZeneca shots to Brazil on Wednesday, while the Ministry of Health tried to allay concerns about reports of blood clots, calling for calm.
Very few developing countries have rejected the trend. Congo, for example, has stopped using AstraZeneca, putting its vaccination campaign on hold just before it starts, because it has no doses of anything else. Indonesia also initially discontinued the shooting, but then said on Friday it would resume its use.
Europe and other rich countries have a choice of several vaccines, but AstraZeneca is currently at the heart of the rest of the world’s vaccination strategy. Some developing countries have received doses of vaccines made in China or Russia – often as donations – but, at least in Africa, these allocations have usually been relatively small. Chinese and Russian vaccines have not yet been approved by the WHO and therefore cannot be distributed by COVAX.
Africa, with a population of 1.3 billion, hopes to vaccinate 60% of its population by the end of 2022. This target will almost certainly not be achieved without the widespread use of AstraZeneca. And experts have warned that until vaccination rates are high around the world, the virus remains a threat everywhere.
Confidence in the AstraZeneca vaccine only exacerbates the difficulties that Africa will face in carrying out their inoculation campaigns. The continent is home to some of the world’s weakest health systems. The nations there have only fought to test enough people for coronavirus, and the actual number is unknown due to the challenges in tracking cases and deaths. According to the CDC in Africa, more than 4 million cases of coronavirus have been confirmed across the continent, including more than 108,000 deaths.
In an analysis released on Thursday, the World Bank found that 85% of low- and middle-income countries had a vaccination plan, but less than a third had public involvement strategies to combat hesitation and misinformation about vaccines.
This means that a confusion like the one caused by the break in AstraZeneca in Europe can be difficult to solve.
“This complicates the situation,” said Dr Misaki Wayengera, head of a technical working group advising Uganda’s pandemic response, referring to the suspension. “It’s the best shot we have here and we should be able to do it.”
The blow to public confidence was felt in countries like Somalia, which began vaccinations on Tuesday, but where some said they were unwilling to get the AstraZeneca shot while many in Europe did not use it.
“This immunization makes no sense when EU countries have suspended their use,” said Abdulkadir Osman. “We just can’t trust her.”
In Rwanda, which received 240,000 doses of AstraZeneca and just over 102,000 Pfizer vaccines, Justin Gatsinzi said he was initially reluctant to get shot, but gave up for fear that he would be denied some public services if he refused.
“It’s actually very complicated,” said Gatsinzi, a teacher, adding that he had not been told what vaccine he had.
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Associated Press journalists David Biller in Rio de Janeiro, Ignatius Ssuuna in Kigali, Rwanda, Ashok Sharma in New Delhi, Mohamed Sheikh Nor in Mogadishu, Somalia, Lori Hinnant in Paris and Maria Cheng in London contributed to this report.