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The executive commission of the European Union (EU) officially approved the conditional sale of the COVID-19 vaccine developed jointly by the pharmaceutical multinational AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom on 29 last month (local time). This vaccine is the third Corona 19 vaccine approved by the EU after the vaccine developed by Pfizer, Bioentech and Modena. The photo was taken last November of the vaccine, syringe, and the AstraZeneca and Oxford Corona 19 company logo. [AFP = 연합뉴스]AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, which the Korean government decided to import, has not been approved in Switzerland. This happened amid the controversy over vaccines for the elderly in European countries.
Swiss Medic, a Swiss pharmaceutical regulator, did not approve the AstraZeneca vaccine due to a lack of clinical data on Day 3 (local time), the Financial Times reported. Swiss Medic said: “Based on the data available so far, there are no clear results on the effects of the elderly,” and said: “We will await data on large-scale phase 3 clinical trials in North and South America.” It is a position that new clinical results are needed.
In response, AstraZeneca said: “Our vaccine is effective enough to have been approved in more than 50 countries around the world” and “We will share the new clinical results as soon as possible and obtain approval from Switzerland.”
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has approved the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, regardless of age. However, questions have been raised about the efficacy of the vaccine in the elderly. In France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, and Poland, older people are advised not to get vaccinated against AstraZeneca. Switzerland is not a member of the European Union and is therefore not affected by the EMA.
In Korea, the ‘Corona 19 Vaccine Safety and Efficacy Verification Advisory Group’ of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety recommended ‘conditional approval’ of the AstraZeneca vaccine on day 1, suggesting that the elderly should also be vaccinated. “The effect of the AstraZeneca vaccine may be relatively less, but I think it is possible to inoculate it if it is effective enough to build up an immunity in the population to some extent,” said Chung Eun-kyung, director of the Centers for Disease Control. from Korea. and Prevention. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety is scheduled to hold the Central Pharmacy Review Committee on the 4th and announce whether the AstraZeneca vaccine has been administered to those 65 and older.
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