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The coronavirus vaccine developed by the British company AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford has been licensed for use in the UK, where the epidemic is also worsening due to the so-called “English variant” of the virus. The UK is the first country to approve the AstraZeneca vaccine, which had some problems in the testing phase but is very important for vaccination campaigns in various countries. The United Kingdom has ordered 100 million doses and the European Union 400 million doses, which will be distributed proportionally in the different member countries.
But unlike in the UK, approval of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the European Union still seems to take some time, it is unclear how long. Noel Wathion, deputy director of EMA, the European Medicines Agency, told the Belgian newspaper on Tuesday The newspaper that the vaccine recommendation, the step leading up to approval by the European Commission, is unlikely to come in January as AstraZeneca hasn’t even submitted a formal application yet. Wathion then emphasized the need for more data on the clinical trial of the vaccine, which is currently insufficient.
In November, AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford announced that their experimental coronavirus vaccine was found to be 70.4 percent effective, less than Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines (about 95 percent). but enough to comment on it with optimism. In the following days, however, doubts arose about the data, according to which the effectiveness of the vaccine varied significantly depending on the dose administered, between 90 and 62 percent (with an average effectiveness calculated precisely at 70.4 percent). hundred). The anomalous results, it had emerged, were due to some errors in the administration in the experimental phase, and for weeks a new publication is expected to clarify the real effectiveness of the vaccine, calculated with more experiments.
The AstraZeneca vaccine is very important for the British, European and Italian vaccination campaign. It is a much cheaper vaccine than Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, and it can be stored in the refrigerator instead of the expensive modern freezers required for Pfizer-BioNTech vials. The European Union has ordered a total of 400 million doses, more than any other vaccine, and it is the one that according to plans should be distributed in greater quantities to member states in the first months of 2021. In Italy about 16 million should arrive. doses in the first three months and another 24 million in the next three. In contrast, 16 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine are expected to arrive in the first six months: yesterday, however, an optional European purchase of another 100 million doses in 2021 was announced, to be distributed between countries. members. However, it is not yet clear when.
– Read also: What we still don’t know about vaccination in Italy
In the United Kingdom, new cases of coronavirus contagion are increasing rapidly, and just yesterday the new record was set since the start of the epidemic, with more than 53,000 cases recorded in one day, due in part to reports of infections discovered in on holiday season days. There were 414 deaths. The “English variant” of the virus, which does not seem to produce more serious symptoms but is much more contagious, worsened the health situation in a few weeks, filling hospitals and overloading those already unstable and ineffective. contact tracking system.
The British media speak of a probable tightening of the restrictive measures, which had already been tightened by the Christmas period in several areas of the south of the country, including London. Several counties currently in the third tier of restrictions are expected to move to the fourth, a form of loosening, which already exists in London.
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