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The Guardian used data from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control and other sources. It was found that of 6.13 million. Up to 4.84 million doses of the vaccine delivered to the 27 Member States of the Community have yet to be used. – in other words, on average only one in five.
The recommendations of the French, German, Polish and Italian authorities to prescribe AstraZeneca only to people under 65 years of age have been considered an important factor in this case.
But not so much because of doubts about the efficacy of the vaccine, but because countries cannot quickly modify the vaccination strategies developed and pass the doses to the youngest.
Merkel, for her part, admitted in an interview with the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine that the AstraZeneca vaccine is also being rejected by people concerned about its safety and efficacy, fueled by negative floods of product information.
“Reuters” / “Scanpix” nuotr./Angela Merkel
“AstraZeneca is currently facing a problem with its acceptance,” Merkel said. – This vaccine is reliable, effective and safe, it has been approved by the European Medicines Agency and is recommended in Germany for people under 65 years of age.
All officials tell us that this vaccine can be trusted. As long as there is a shortage of vaccines, it is not possible to choose which vaccine to vaccinate. “
When asked if she would voluntarily take the AstraZeneca vaccine, the German Chancellor replied diplomatically: “I am 66 years old and I am not in the recommended age group.”
Belgium received 201.6 thousand. AstraZeneca vaccine dose, but only 9832 (4%) was used. Bulgaria used only 1.73%. doses, Germany – 13 percent, Italy – 19 percent.
Shortly after, French President Emmanuel Macron, 43, said that he would definitely not give up the AstraZeneca vaccine if it was offered consecutively.
“The efficacy of this vaccine has been proven in the latest scientific studies. My turn will come, but I still have time. If they offer me this vaccine, of course, I will not reject it,” Macron said.
„Reuters“ / „Scanpix“ nuotr./Emmanuelis Macronas
It is true that in January it was the French president who contributed to doubts about the AstraZeneca vaccine, when before no scientist claimed that it was “almost ineffective” in people 65 years of age or older.
So far, the numbers are impressively poor. For example, Belgium received 201.6 thousand. AstraZeneca vaccine dose, but only 9832 (4%) was used. Bulgaria used only 1.73%. doses, Germany – 13 percent, Italy – 19 percent.
In contrast, Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine doses do not last long in warehouses and freezers. The Belgians used 81 percent. their doses, the Italians – 80 percent, the Germans – 82 percent.
France does not provide data on the use of AstraZeneca, but on the website Covidtracker.fr it is announced that only 11% has been used. dose.
Professor Alain Fischer, who oversees the vaccination process in France and is called the “Messiah Vaccine”, said Thursday that the AstraZeneca vaccine was “unjustifiably poorly written.”
According to the expert, the latest data shows that this vaccine is no less effective than the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines: “It is completely safe. This vaccine is very good and should be vaccinated by anyone to whom it is offered, without any doubt. “
“It just came to our notice then. We are working hard to persuade people to accept this vaccine and regain confidence in it. It is also a psychological problem, so it will take time,” said Professor Thomas Mertens, head of the commission. German, which recommended that older people not get vaccinated with AstraZeneca.
Scanpix Photo / Modern, Pfizer / BioNTech and AstraZeneca vaccines
When asked if his commission’s recommendation could not have contributed to the mistrust of the vaccine, Thertens admitted: “This may have been part of the problem, although we have always said that our recommendation has nothing to do with the safety of the vaccine. vaccine. We never said the vaccine was unsafe. “
“We said that there is a lack of research on the effectiveness of the vaccine in the group of older people. However, the biggest problem has been the widespread reports that the vaccine is much less effective than mRNA vaccines, ”added the professor.
Brianne Barker, a virologist at Drew University (USA), recently pointed out that medical systems are no longer concerned with mild symptoms of the disease, but rather with a disease that requires the patient to be hospitalized or die.
All vaccines (Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, and AstraZeneca) were 100%. effective in protecting patients from serious illness.
Therefore, in addition to the nominal efficacy endpoint, which measures the onset of symptoms, the severity of protection against serious events is also calculated when calculating the efficacy of the vaccine.
It shows how to reliably protect people from conditions that severely affect their heart or respiratory system, require supplemental oxygen, treat the patient in an intensive care unit, cause respiratory failure or death.
And by this criterion, all vaccines (Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, and AstraZeneca) were 100%. effective in protecting patients from serious illness as early as 6 weeks after the first dose (for Moderna) and 7 weeks (for Pfizer / BioNTech and Johnson & Johnson).
For AstraZeneca, 100% protection against severe cases and hospitalization is achieved three weeks after the first dose of vaccine.
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