This is not only because developed countries, such as those in Western Europe, had purchased a large number of doses of AstraZeneca to get out of the pandemic, but more consequently, because much of the developing world relied on this vaccine to do the same.
The double whammy is that the image emerges that the AstraZeneca vaccine, which appears to have caused a very rare, sometimes fatal, condition of severe clotting with a low number of platelets in the blood, may affect younger adults more than the elderly. Developing countries generally have significantly younger populations than their richer counterparts.
No link has been officially confirmed between the rare blood clots and the J&J vaccine, but U.S. officials want to pause and use alternate shots as they work to determine if there is a connection and, if so, to what extent it may be prevalent. Europe is waiting to see what an investigation finds.
Many developing nations have to wait longer than richer countries to receive these vaccines. In the early stages of their development, mRNA vaccines had to be kept at such cold temperatures, most developing countries could not use them without buying new and expensive equipment to store them. These requirements improve (the Pfizer vaccine can now be stored at normal freezer temperatures when transported), but the storage challenge of months ago meant that most developing countries would focus on shots like AstraZeneca and J&J in the time to make purchase agreements with pharmaceutical companies.
Dr Peter Drobac, director of the Skoll Center for Social Entrepreneurship at Oxford Saïd Business School, said that despite the rarity of blood clots in both AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, any adverse effects could worsen vaccination hesitation and even misinformation.
“It can feed conspiracy theories around the world about a two-tier society. If rich countries say they’ll just have a ‘gold standard’ with the most expensive vaccines and say AstraZeneca isn’t good enough for us in the north global, but good enough for the global south, it could reduce vaccine uptake and hamper efforts to vaccinate the world, “he told CNN.
“For Covid-19 vaccines, the benefits outweigh the possible side effects,” Benjamin Djoudalbaye, head of the CDC’s Africa Policy, Health Diplomacy and Communication, told CNN on Monday.
But the picture is more nuanced than that. The UK has data suggesting that while the benefits outweigh the risks in general, they do not necessarily do so for every age group in all circumstances.
Last week, its drug regulator warned people under the age of 30 to be offered alternative vaccines, arguing that people in this age group are more likely to suffer serious harm from the AstraZeneca vaccine than not. they could prevent serious illness. This is only in a situation where the exposure to the virus is low. Any return to normalcy will increase exposure. Other European countries and Australia have limited vaccine use in older age groups.
To date, COVAX has delivered 17.4 million Covid-19 vaccines to 36 African countries, including more than 17 million shots of AstraZeneca, manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, and some 200,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine, according to data sent Wednesday to WHO officials on CNN.
The extent of the risk of these rare blood clot events after vaccination against AstraZeneca and potentially against J&J vaccines is not yet clear, but if it is confirmed that young people are more likely to experience them, this means that the developing world and its younger populations be more vulnerable to clots, even if they are less vulnerable to Covid-19 to begin with.
Meanwhile, countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom continue with their vaccine programs and share very few doses with other countries that need it.
The United States has shared a small number of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which has not yet been approved there, with neighbors in Mexico and Canada, but says it will not share it more widely until its own supplies are secure. A Duke University report estimates Thursday that the United States could have 300 million overdoses by the end of July.
A Nigerian public health doctor and consultant, Kingsley Douglas, said “protectionist” tendencies in the developed world were working against a positive overall outcome.
“Western countries first look for their citizens before looking for them elsewhere. I don’t fool them into being protectionist in their approach,” Douglas told CNN. “However, it is in everyone’s interest that the critical mass of the world’s population be vaccinated and protected against Covid. Vaccines should be distributed evenly and equitably.”
A top Chinese health official admitted over the weekend that China’s vaccines did not have very high efficacy rates and that Beijing was considering acquiring new types of vaccines based on mRNA technology, such as Pfizer injections. and Modern, an analysis he made. he was forced to water down after his comments were widely shared on social media and international news websites.
Samuel Matsikure, a resident of Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, said he has heard many young people express skepticism about vaccines made in China.
“Many citizens are afraid of getting vaccinated,” he told CNN. “They don’t trust China’s vaccine, in part because they think its effectiveness is low, and it’s not as popular as other vaccines. So you find that young, work-able people don’t get as vaccinated as people. great, ”Matsikure said.
Matsikure hopes Zimbabwe will acquire more vaccines so that some of the country’s strict coronavirus-related restrictions can be relaxed.
“Many Zimbabweans have suffered financially due to the Covid closures. Most Zimbabweans belong to the informal sector … they rely on selling their products on the street or at designated outlets. But all of these were closed during the closures. … crying for food aid and unable to pay their rents, “Matsikure told CNN.
Brazil, for example, has already received more than a million doses of AstraZeneca through COVAX, and as cases rise there, it doesn’t seem to be heading for limited use.
“Blood clots are worrisome,” said Sergio Litewka of the University of Miami’s Ethics Programs, which focuses its research on Latin America. “But I don’t think the number of clot cases justifies the suspension of vaccine use.”
He said Latin American countries simply do not have enough other options to launch shots like AstraZeneca and J&J, and he believes vaccine vacillation in the region could increase as a result.
“Denmark has said no to AstraZeneca and there are other countries studying what they will do and what happens with Johnson & Johnson,” he said. “But in Latin America, people have very few options. Some say I’d rather take risks, but some are more hesitant.”
CNN’s Christopher Johnson contributed to this report.