LONDON (AP) – AstraZeneca’s repeated missteps in vaccine information coupled with a frightening of blood clots could cause lasting damage to the credibility of a shot that is the backbone of the global strategy to stop it the coronavirus pandemic, and may undermine even vaccine confidence more broadly. experts say.
The last shot of the vaccine came on Tuesday, when US officials issued an unusual statement expressing concern that AstraZeneca had included “obsolete information” when it reported encouraging results of a trial in the United States a day earlier. This may have provided “an incomplete view of the efficacy data,” according to the statement.
AstraZeneca responded that the results, which showed their firing, were effective around 79%, included information up to February 17, but seemed consistent with more up-to-date data. He promised an update in 48 hours.
“I doubt the intention (of the US authorities) to deliberately undermine confidence in the AstraZeneca vaccine,” said Dr. Paul Hunter, a professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia. “But that will probably lead to more vaccine hesitations.”
Even if the damage is limited to AstraZeneca itself, it would have powerful effects, as the shot is cheaper and easier to store than many of its rivals and is therefore expected to be widely used in countries. in development. International health agencies have repeatedly said the vaccine is safe and effective, but it is not the first time the company has had public confidence issues.
The partial results of his first major trial, which Britain used to authorize the vaccine, were clouded by a manufacturing error that researchers did not immediately recognize. Insufficient data on the protection of the vaccine against the elderly led some countries to restrict its use to younger populations before reversing the course. U.S. officials suspended an AstraZeneca study for an unusual six weeks while looking for details about the problems reported in Britain before deciding the vaccine was not to blame. Meanwhile, the European Union has complained about delays in delivering the company’s vaccines.
Last week, more than a dozen countries temporarily halted the use of AstraZeneca’s shot after reports of rare blood clots in some people who received it. The European Medicines Agency concluded that the shot did not increase the overall incidence of clots, but unwanted attention seems to have left its mark.
In Norway, a senior official warned on Monday that he might not be able to resume his use of the vaccine because there were so many people rejecting it.
“People clearly say they don’t want the AstraZeneca vaccine,” he told NRK Mars station Kvittum Tangen, which runs a Norwegian medical association.
Last week in Bucharest, Romania, vaccination coordinator Valeriu Gheorghita said 33,000 vaccine appointments against AstraZeneca had been canceled in 24 hours and that about a third of the 10,000 people scheduled to receive the vaccine did not. they appeared. In Belgrade, Serbia, a large exhibition center set up for people receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine was mostly deserted on Monday.
“Unfortunately, this has more to do with perception than with science,” said Dr Bharat Pankhania, an infectious disease specialist at the British University of Exeter.
“We have now seen, according to various parameters, that the AstraZeneca vaccine provides protection and is safe,” he said. “But the narrative for the audience hasn’t been that clear.”
France is an excellent example of confusion.
French President Emmanuel Macron initially suggested the vaccine was not effective for the elderly, before stepping back. However, France only authorized the AstraZeneca vaccine for use in adults aged 65 and under, citing a lack of data. Then the government changed its mind, based on new data, and said it is fine for all adults. But when there were reports of rare blood clots in some vaccine recipients, the government suspended the use of the shot all together. When France restarted AstraZeneca, it banned shooting from anyone under 55.
The messages that provoke a whip come at a time when France, like much of continental Europe, is struggling to speed up its vaccine, while also facing a rebound in cases close to overwhelming its hospitals and cause threats of new closures.
At a European Parliament committee in Brussels on Tuesday, Sandra Gallina, head of the European Commission’s health directorate, described the situation with AstraZeneca as “a disgrace”. He said difficult vaccination campaigns across Europe were “made much more difficult by AstraZeneca’s poor performance”.
The company has blamed delays in its deliveries of production problems.
Even if the pharmacist clarifies the last misunderstanding, it can have a lasting impact.
Julian Tang, a virologist at the University of Leicester, pointed to the decades-long controversy over the measles vaccine as a precautionary tale.
“There was absolutely no evidence to show that the vaccine (measles, mumps and rubella) caused autism,” he said. But despite the withdrawal of the document making that claim, Tang said some people are still worried about the vaccine.
Warm support for the AstraZeneca vaccine in Europe contrasts with developing world governments that are desperate for supplies.
Dr Bruce Aylward, a senior adviser to the World Health Organization, said the UN agency has a long list of “highly desired” countries to get the shot as soon as possible. “We just can’t get enough of it,” he said.
But some experts have worried that skepticism in Europe will end up deteriorating about the vaccine worldwide. They suggested a measure that could reassure a nervous audience: a green light from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
“If the U.S. regulator analyzes this data and authorizes AstraZeneca, that will carry a lot of weight,” said Jimmy Whitworth, a professor of international public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
AstraZeneca said it will send its data to the FDA in a few weeks.
It is still possible that the vaccine may bury doubts. At a vaccination center in Lisbon, 68-year-old Rui Manuel Martins dismissed concerns, saying millions had been vaccinated with very few negative effects.
“There are always some cases of people rejecting any medication,” he said before receiving his first dose. “It’s better to get vaccinated than not.”
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Associated Press writers Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Angela Charlton in Paris, Stephen McGrath in Bucharest, Romania, Jamey Keaten in Geneva, Dusan Stojanovic in Belgrade, Serbia, Helena Alves in Lisbon, Samuel Petrequin and Raf Casert in Brussels and Lauran Neergaard in Washington contributed to this report.
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This story has been updated to correct that France has banned AstraZeneca to anyone under 55 years of age.