WARSAW, Poland (AP) – Countries across Europe resumed AstraZeneca shot vaccinations on Friday as leaders tried to reassure their population, it is safe from short suspensions questioning a vaccine that is essential to putting end of the coronavirus pandemic.
The first British and French ministers rolled up their sleeves, as did a handful of other senior politicians on the continent, where inoculation attempts have been repeatedly thwarted and several countries are re-imposing blockages as infections grow in many places.
The UK is a notable exception: the outbreak there has receded and the country has been widely praised for its vaccination campaign, although this week it announced it would also be affected by the lack of supply.. The UK has also stopped using AstraZeneca. In contrast, European Union countries have struggled to launch vaccines quickly, and the discontinuation of the vaccine by many this week has added to these problems.
The suspensions came after reports of blood clots in some vaccine recipients, even though international health agencies urged governments to continue shooting, saying the benefits outweigh the risks. On Thursday, the European Medicines Agency said the vaccine does not increase the overall incidence of blood clots, although it could not rule out the connection with a small number of rare clots.
The measure paved the way for a number of European countries, including Italy, France and Germany, to start using the vaccine again.
“It is clear that the revocation of the suspension is a great relief for us, because we must strongly accelerate the vaccination campaign,” said Dr. Giovanni Rezza, head of prevention at the Italian Ministry of Health.
Rezza told reporters in Rome that Italy had reluctantly stopped the campaign just out of plenty of caution, but that it needed to quickly put it back in order to make up for lost time.
He said Italy must double the 200,000 vaccinations a day the country had received before the suspension to reach its goal of inoculating 80 percent of the population by September.
Health experts have expressed concern that, although the suspensions were short, they could damage confidence in the vaccine at a time when many people are already hesitant to take a shot that has developed so quickly. While many EU countries have struggled with such reluctance, it is even more a concern in developing countries. who may have no other choice of vaccine. AstraZeneca, which is cheaper and easier to store than many rival products, is a key element in vaccination actions in many poorer countries.
Amid these concerns, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson received an AstraZeneca jab at St. John’s Hospital. Thomas from south London, where he was treated in intensive care last April for COVID-19.
“I didn’t really feel anything, so it was very good, very fast, and I can’t recommend it too much,” Johnson, 56, said after he was released from hospital. “Everyone, when you receive the notification for a jab, please go and receive it. It’s the best thing for you, the best thing for your family and everyone else. ”
Among those who were shot Friday were French Prime Minister Jean Castex, Slovenian President Borut Pahor and Prime Minister Janez Jansa and a German governor.
Castex, 55, said he had stepped up because he wanted to show full confidence in the shot, even though he was not yet eligible under French rules. Former director of the Pasteur Institute, Patrick Berche, told BFMTV that the move was “a very nice gesture.”
France has resumed the vaccine with some restrictions that appeared to further reduce the risk of potential side effects.
Other countries resuming the use of AstraZeneca photos include Bulgaria, a nation of 7 million in which only 355,000 people have been vaccinated with a first dose to date – the lowest number in the European Union.
But not everyone rushed to the vaccine as quickly. Sweden, Norway and Denmark, which was the first country to stop using AstraZeneca, said they would wait another week before deciding whether to resume. And Finland has decided to discontinue the vaccine for the first time on Friday, saying it will suspend use for a week while investigating two suspected cases of blood clots.
Although there are concerns that the break has sown long-term doubts, some have been relieved that the vaccine was available again on Friday.
Marvin Brandl, 28, an emergency paramedic, was among a group of health workers who were shot in the German city of Cologne. He expressed confidence in all vaccines that have been approved by the EU.
Last night, when I found out that vaccination was possible again, I made the appointment immediately and then I was satisfied and grateful that I was able to get vaccinated, ”said Brandl.
Authorities in Berlin say two large vaccination centers will reopen on Friday and people whose appointments were canceled this week will be able to receive the vaccine over the weekend without making a new one.
After several setbacks in the launch of vaccines, EU governments are eager to fire again, especially as infections and hospitalizations increase dramatically in many countries, with many officials saying they are either entering or already in a “third wave”.
Infection rates in Germany are “now clearly exponential,” said Lars Schaade, deputy head of the Robert Koch Institute. Officials have warned that the country could face a return to stricter blockade measures by Easter.
In France, the government has dropped a harsh blockade for Paris and several other regions, announcing instead a patchwork of new restrictions, despite an increasingly alarming situation in hospitals, with an increase in the number of patients with COVID- 19.
In Poland, more people use respirators than at any time since the beginning of the pandemic, and children represent a higher percentage of those hospitalized. Officials blame the rise on a more transmissible mutation first identified in Britain, which is spreading like wildfire in the country and say the worst is yet to come. The Central European nation is preparing to enter a new national blockade on Saturday – although one less restrictive than the one imposed a year ago.
Meanwhile, Hungary has extended the blockade restrictions for another week, with strong growth breaking records every day – despite the fact that the country has the second highest vaccination rate in the EU after Malta.
In Bosnia, which is not in the EU, growing infections caused a blockade in the capital on Friday. The 3.3 million Balkan nation has not yet begun mass vaccination of its citizens and has kept open measures and ski resorts open throughout the winter season.
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Associated Press writers across Europe contributed to this report.
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