(Reuters) – The launch of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, on which much of the world relies to defeat the pandemic, faced other complications on Thursday as India stopped vaccine exports and Europe discussed its own export controls.
India has temporarily taken over all major vaccine exports from the Anglo-Swedish company from the Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s largest vaccine maker, to meet domestic demand as infections grow, two sources said.
This could delay supply to dozens of lower-income countries, also relying on IBS production under the COVAX vaccine-sharing system supported by the World Health Organization.
“We understand that deliveries of COVID-19 vaccines to lower-income economies participating in the COVAX facility are likely to be delayed,” UNICEF’s procurement and distribution partner told Reuters.
India’s move comes as the European Union meets on Thursday to consider giving Member States more opportunities to block the export of vaccines outside the bloc, many of which are struggling to reduce infections and boost immunization campaigns.
The proposal will apply to all vaccines, including AstraZeneca, on which the EU originally relied to meet the goal of inoculating 70% of its adult population by this summer.
The AstraZeneca vaccine is considered crucial in tackling the pandemic because it is cheaper and easier to transport than many rival photos.
The EU accuses the drug manufacturer of selling its vaccine excessively and unfairly favoring the UK, where AstraZeneca developed the shooting with Oxford University – an accusation denied by the company.
This week, Brussels agreed with London to strive for a “win-win” solution, but even if the EU resists export controls, it faces another problem: declining confidence in the AstraZeneca blow due to concerns about the effects secondary and efficacy data.
Denmark will suspend its use of the vaccine for another three weeks, pending further investigations into a possible link between the vaccine and blood clots, Danish broadcaster TV 2 reported on Thursday, citing sources.
More than 10 other countries have also suspended the launch of the vaccine due to similar problems, but most have resumed since then. The European Medicines Agency said last week that it is safe and not linked to an increased risk of general blood clots.
However, many Europeans remain cautious.
One-third of Danes reportedly refused the AstraZeneca vaccine, according to a poll released by the Danish press on Wednesday. The trust has also been very successful in Spain, Germany, France and Italy.
AstraZeneca slightly revised the vaccine’s effectiveness to 76% in a new analysis of its US study. Provisional data released on Monday raised the vaccine’s effectiveness rate to 79%, but did not include more recent infections, leading to an extremely unusual public rebuke from US health officials.
AstraZeneca, which is awaiting approval from the US regulation, also reiterated that the shooting was 100% effective against severe or critical forms of COVID-19.
“The effectiveness of the vaccine against severe diseases, including death, puts the AZ vaccine in the same stage as other vaccines,” said William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, adding that the shot is expected to gain approval USA.
The vaccine has already been granted conditional marketing authorization or emergency use in more than 70 countries.
In Europe, the leaders of France and Germany acknowledged on Thursday that the issue of the slow launch of vaccines in the EU is beyond the control of exports.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said EU leaders would also discuss how to boost domestic vaccine production.
“British production sites manufacture for the UK, and the United States does not export, so we rely on what we can do in Europe,” she told German lawmakers.
French President Emmanuel Macron has said that the EU itself should take the blame – that its vaccination plans were unambitious.
“I didn’t shoot for the stars,” he told Greek television station ERT. “That should be a lesson for all of us.”
Written by Mark Bendeich. Edited by Mark Potter