Photographer: Anthony Devlin / Bloomberg
Photographer: Anthony Devlin / Bloomberg
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The European nightmare of the AstraZeneca Plc vaccine is getting worse, with a number of countries stopping the shootings due to safety concerns, as subsequent delivery delays cause governments around the world to accumulate the doses they have already received.
At least 10 countries, including Italy and Norway reacted after Austria and later Denmark expressed concern about possible side effects in two batches. While of Europe The drug regulator said there was no indication of the problems, it led to a series of suspensions extending as far as Thailand.
The health scare arose amid additional supply disasters. The drug manufacturer’s efforts to make up for the European Union’s deficit by supplying gunfire elsewhere have hit a wall, while governments around the world are protecting their own supplies. The US has rejected pressure to split doses and is sticking to its Astra stock, even if the shot is not yet authorized for use there.
The drama keeps the Astra in the center of a the political storm in Europe, a few weeks after the production problems, put the two sides in conflict for the first time. Meanwhile, the EU lags behind the UK and the US in vaccinations, creating a political crisis for bloc leaders.
In addition to the low yields that produce fewer vaccines than planned, a plant in the Netherlands is still awaiting regulatory approval for dose implementation. The site, owned by manufacturer Halix, manufactures the vaccinated drug for Astra and is part of both EU and UK supply chains.
An Astra spokesman said the approval schedule was in line with the original plans and had no impact on EU deliveries. Halix did not respond to a request for comment outside normal business hours.
But the various problems mean that Astra will only be able to deliver 100 million doses to the EU in the EU the first half of the year, it is said on Friday, about a third of the originally planned number. Thirty million doses are due by the end of this quarter, with the rest coming in the next three months.
Italy has already responded with direct action, using a new EU measure to stop Astra from transporting doses to Australia. Prime Minister Mario Draghi suggested on Friday that he would do it again if necessary.
“The European Union has made clear commitments to pharmaceutical companies and we expect them to be respected,” Draghi said. “We have made some strong decisions against companies that have delayed deliveries and we will continue to do so.”
Recent developments will not do much to encourage the takeover of the Astra vaccine in the EU, which has already had they have encountered problems in recent weeks in the light of variable efficacy rates, the potential loss of protection against new variants of the virus and questions about its effectiveness in older adults. Until recently, a number of countries restricted the use of photographs to them decrepit under 65 years.
The vaccine faith
More Europeans would like an alternative to AstraZeneca
Source: YouGov Plc
On a March 7th The YouGov poll, EU perceptions of Astra and Oxford University shot safety were lower compared to vaccines from Pfizer Inc. and partner BioNTech SE and Moderna Inc. By contrast, the British considered the Astra to be the safest of the three. .
The suspensions may still incorporate negative views, despite the fact that guidance from the European Medicines Agency.
The number of reported incidents – about 30 in a group of about five million – is no higher than what would have naturally occurred in that population size, according to regulators and scientists.
“Genuine problems with a batch are very rare and almost always refer to contamination with bacteria or physical particles,” such as glass detected by the manufacturer, he said. Stephen Evans, Professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. “Discontinuation of use in this case is not based on evidence.”
Astra said a safety analysis of more than 10 million records showed no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis in any age group, gender, group or country.
Some of the data on AstraZeneca Plc’s Covid-19 vaccine “are a few scratches,” according to Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Professor and virologist Andrew Pekosz. Speaking to Bloomberg Television, he went on to say that a break in the vaccination program to monitor safety was “a good thing.” Bloomberg Public Health School is supported by Michael R. Bloomberg, founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News. (
The Astra vaccine has become an emblem for the rise of pandemic nationalism, as countries struggle to inoculate populations as quickly as possible. The US has already ordered almost enough vaccines from the three manufacturers with the authorization of the Food and Drug Administration to immunize its adult population twice.
“We will first start making sure Americans are taken care of, but then we will try to help the rest of the world,” President Joe Biden said Wednesday.
Meanwhile, back in Europe, the EU spent much of last week another war of words with Britain after accusing Britain of blocking vaccine exports. The EU itself exported million doses, although it also has controls that it can use to ensure that pharmaceutical companies comply with contracts.
“I think there is an incredible irony with the fact that the European Union is complaining that other countries are protectionist,” he said. Mark Eccleston-Turner, specialist in law and infectious diseases at Keele University in England. “At the beginning of this pandemic, they referred to this vaccine as a public good and then sought to buy as many doses as possible and make export controls available.”
– With the assistance of Tim Loh, Ian Wishart, Morten Buttler and Nikos Chrysoloras