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Many European countries that have “bet” on the AstraZeneca vaccine are discontinuing vaccinations after a series of incidents, amid “boiling water” by Covid-19.
Just days ago, French officials were still urging people to trust the Covid-19 vaccine, developed by British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca with the University of Oxford, a vaccine that is expected to help the country speed up the campaign of vaccination.
However, French President Emmanuel Macron announced yesterday that he would stop launching the AstraZeneca vaccine as a precautionary measure, after receiving information about blood clots in vaccinated, even fatal cases. “Hopefully we can quickly resume vaccines if the European Pharmaceutical Authority (EMA) gives us the green light,” Macron added.
Italian police also began yesterday to withdraw nearly 400,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine at the request of prosecutors investigating the death of a teacher after vaccination. The Italian Pharmaceutical Authority said that the suspension of vaccination throughout the country was a “precautionary and temporary” measure.
In Germany, which once supported the AstraZeneca vaccine despite concerns from other countries, Health Minister Jens Spahn also called the decision to stop injecting “simply as a precaution.” Germany has used more than 1.6 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, although it is primarily based on the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Spain also followed in the footsteps of these countries. During a press conference last night, Spanish Health Minister Carolina Darias said she reached out to her European colleagues before ordering a two-week cessation of vaccination against AstraZeneca, adding that this helped stakeholders. There is time. to review recently discovered clotting cases.
One person was vaccinated with AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine at an immunization center in Berlin, Germany, on March 8. Picture: AFP.
However, many immunologists and experts fear that Europe is losing valuable time in the race against highly contagious strains of nCoV amid a third wave of pandemic hitting the continent.
“This is a disaster. Many people are eagerly awaiting the vaccine,” said Heike Werner, head of the health department of the state of Thuringia in eastern Germany. Roberto Burioni, Italy’s top virologist, has also expressed concern that people now avoid using the AstraZeneca vaccine.
“I understand that you are not vaccinated, for fear of inexplicable decisions. I understand and I am sorry, because you will face a serious risk to avoid a negligible risk,” Burioni wrote on Twitter.
The decision to discontinue vaccination against AstraZeneca in European countries is also made just at the time when the vaccination campaign on the continent is far behind the UK and the US. Therefore, Dr Michael Head, a senior global health specialist at the University of Southampton in the UK, said the decision by France, Germany and other countries to stop vaccination was “disappointing”, pointing to the dangerous opportunity. to increase people’s reluctance to vaccinate.
Furthermore, AstraZeneca strongly defends its vaccine, saying there is “no evidence” that the product increases the risk of blood clots or bleeding, considering that of the more than 17 million people who have injected themselves in the EU. Europe (EU) and UK. “Safety for all is our highest priority. We are working with European authorities and national health authorities and look forward to their review later this week,” AstraZeneca said today. March 15 has a paragraph.
In fact, the UK approved the AstraZeneca vaccine since late December 2020 and has injected 9.7 million doses as of the end of last month. The country’s pharmaceutical regulatory authority has not raised concerns about blood clots caused by injecting the vaccine or a Pfizer product.
“The number and nature of adverse reactions reported so far have not been unusual compared to other commonly used vaccines,” said the most recent UK report on vaccine safety.
Among the millions of people who have been vaccinated with AstraZeneca in the UK, 14 cases of deep vein thrombosis, a clot that forms in blood vessels and causes obstruction, and 13 cases of pulmonary embolism have been reported. One person died. Another 35 cases of thrombocytopenia developed, in which one person died.
“We are examining the reports. However, the current basis does not prove that the vaccine is the cause,” said Dr Phil Bryan of a UK regulatory agency.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is committed to the safety of the AstraZeneca vaccine, and the EMA has approved it after tracking around 5 million injections across Europe. The decision of this agency as of yesterday has not changed. Both the WHO and the EMA warned that rejecting the vaccine would undermine vaccination efforts at a crucial time.
Amid suspicions about the AstraZeneca vaccine, more and more countries are planning or have adopted new lockdown measures. For some, this has been the third or fourth lockdown in a year.
On March 15, Italy extended strict travel restrictions across the country, prompting fears that the country would sink further into the economic crisis and the mental health of its people, as the immunization campaign continued. Many problems, the UK nCoV strain was spreading more and more. .
The quiet on the streets of Rome and elsewhere conjures up memories of a year ago, when Italy became the first European country to shut down in exchange for some minor progress in fighting the pandemic.
“The second wave and the third wave, I can’t count anymore. I feel confused and disappointed,” said Barbara Lasco, a 43-year-old woman in Milan.
Achievements in epidemic prevention used to appear in most of Europe, but are now stagnant. In Germany, even as many non-essential stores reopened last week, officials have called for caution. “We are seeing clear signs that a third wave of pandemic has started in Germany,” said Lothar Wieler, president of the Robert Koch Institute for Epidemic Control and Control in Germany, on March 12.
On the same day, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi warned that the country was facing a “new wave of infection” due to the emergence of more and more new strains of nCoV. He is tasked with distributing vaccines to an army general and hopes to increase the number of injections from 100,000 to 500,000 a day. But that was before concerns about the AstraZeneca vaccine spread.
On March 15, Iacopo Benini, a 32-year-old teacher, canceled the injection of the AstraZeneca vaccine just 20 minutes before his scheduled appointment in Milan.
“Who is going to get the AstraZeneca vaccine now?” Benini said.
Gloss (Follow, continue The Times of New York City)
