World Health Organization recommendations for the use of Oxford / AstraZeneca
The Covid-19 vaccine, AZD1222, includes all people over the age of 18, including the elderly.
In a briefing on Wednesday, Dr Joachim Hombach, Executive Secretary of the WHO Strategic Expert Advisory Group (SAGE) on Immunization, said:
The immune response in people over the age of 65 is almost the same as in younger people, and this makes us very confident. “
The new recommendations were released on Wednesday and note that there are some populations for whom data is limited or non-existent – including children, pregnant women, nursing women and other groups. “Until such data are available, vaccination of people under the age of 18 is not recommended,” says the guide.
“The available data on AZD1222 vaccination for pregnant women are insufficient to assess the effectiveness of the vaccine or the risks associated with the vaccine during pregnancy. However, it should be noted that AZD1222 is a non-replicating vaccine,” he says. He added that “WHO does not recommend testing for pregnancy before vaccination. WHO does not recommend delaying pregnancy due to vaccination.
For breastfeeding women, the instructions say that “a breastfeeding woman who is part of a group recommended for vaccination, for example, health workers, should be offered vaccination in an equivalent way”. He also said he did not recommend stopping breastfeeding after vaccination
In the same briefing, the WHO also recommended the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine in countries where coronavirus variants are circulating.
The expert group discussed two aspects of the circulation of variants related to the AstraZeneca vaccine, Dr. Alejandro Cravioto, chair of the WHO Strategic Expert Advisory Group (SAGE) on immunization, Cravioto explained.
In the United Kingdom, Cravioto stated that the preliminary analysis showed a slightly lower effectiveness compared to the variant first observed there. The analysis also showed a limited reduction in neutralization titers, which means that the vaccine still has a good effect in protecting people infected with that variant.
In South Africa, Cravioto said the preliminary analysis showed a “marked reduction” in the effectiveness of the vaccine against mild to moderate disease in a variant first seen there. The analysis also showed a reduction in neutralizing antibody levels. However, he said the study was small and did not allow the vaccine to be evaluated for severe infection. He noted that there was indirect evidence that there was still protection against severe disease.
In view of all these factors, I have recommended that, although there is a reduction in the possibility of this vaccine having a full impact on its protective capacity, especially against severe diseases, there is no reason not to recommend its use, even and in countries. which have the circulation of the variant “, said Cravioto.