Despite WHO endorsement, AstraZeneca vaccine arouses mistrust in some European countries

The Oxford Vaccine /AstraZeneca against Covid-19 arouses doubts and mistrust in a part of the European population, where some citizens were reluctant to apply the doses, in principle, because it has an average efficiency of 70%, below the vaccine Pfizer / BioNTech, Moderna or Sputnik V , with levels exceeding 90%.

Although less effective than its messenger RNA rivals, it is championed by most governments and health authorities, but rejected by some sectors when it comes to immunization. For this reason, in Germany, doctors and public health officials called a few days ago for the vaccine, which is cheaper and easier to store, to be more applied.

In France, only 25% of the doses of the vaccine received by the country were used, according to the Minister of Health on Tuesday, March 2, Olvier Verán, who recognized the “problem” of its low use in hospitals. The person in charge received a dose of this vaccine in public, while Alain Fischer, coordinator of the vaccination campaign, assured that “it is not second class”.

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Of the first 600,000 doses of this vaccine, intended for health workers under 65 and people at high risk between 50 and 64, “we have about 75% of uninjected reserves,” said the Minister of Health. Health.

At the same time, the other vaccines administered in France, Moderna and Pfizer / BioNTech, were used “almost 70%” on average, explained the Minister during his weekly conference on this subject.

The possibility that the city’s general practitioners can administer the AstraZeneca vaccines from this Thursday and their extension to patients with previous pathologies between 65 and 75 years old should “extend” their use, said the minister. AFP.

In Germany, it was reported weeks ago, of the 740,000 doses delivered to 16 German regions, only 107,000 were administered, according to the Institute for Health Surveillance. Robert Koch.

Meanwhile, only one in three Germans under the age of 65 “would be willing to receive this drug”, according to a survey carried out by the newspaper Tagesspiegel, even though the massive use of this vaccine is essential to achieve the goal of government: that all Germans received at least one dose in early fall.

In this country, to avoid wasting vaccines, they will be offered to non-priority people, including the security forces. “If they have to choose between AstraZeneca now or another vaccine in a few months, they should choose AstraZeneca now,” he asked. Carsten Watzl, General Secretary of the German Society for Immunology.

Doubts about the safety of people over 65 and side effects

Another point that has sparked suspicion of the vaccine relates to twists and turns by health authorities about its effectiveness in the elderly, despite the fact that on February 10, the WHO recommended the use of the vaccine in older people. people aged 65 and over.

France and other countries in the European Union, such as Germany, initially recommended that the AstraZeneca vaccine be given only to people under the age of 65, arguing that clinical trial data on efficacy in the elderly were insufficient.

In the UK, studies have shown the AstraZeneca vaccine to be effective in reducing hospitalization in the elderly. In this sense, they published results according to which “a single injection of the AstraZeneca or Pfizer vaccine (…) offers protection to the over 70s with a reduction of more than 90% of hospitalizations”, announced the Minister of Health, Matt Hancock, at a press conference.

“This is very good news,” he said. And he added: “The detailed data shows that the protection obtained against covid 35 days after a first injection is still slightly better for the Oxford vaccine than for that of Pfizer,” he added, after doubts expressed by countries like Germany, France and Spain on the effectiveness of the British vaccine in the elderly.

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In Austria, hundreds of medical staff across the country have canceled their vaccination appointments after rumors of possible side effects, such as fever or flu symptoms or muscle pain, spread , although they are predicted by the application of the vaccine. The same goes for injection site pain, muscle pain, headaches, or fatigue. However, the reactions observed were less frequent and milder in the elderly.

The French Medicines Agency (ANSM) recorded 149 declarations (out of 10,000 vaccinations carried out between February 6 and 10) of influenza-like illnesses, some of high intensity (high fever, muscle pain, headache) after injection of the product.

A group of doctors in Salzburg lobbied the government to distribute vaccines from BioNTech, not AstraZeneca, arguing that it works faster and protects patients better. In Bulgaria, which has not imposed an age limit for this vaccine, unlike other European countries, mistrust is growing among the elderly.

In the case of Italy, the problem arose when the Federation of Private Doctors and Dentists of Rome, which represents those who do not work in hospitals, objected to the immunization of its members with the product. AstraZeneca, because “it did not offer sufficient protection”. “The attitude of doctors who do not want the AstraZeneca vaccine is dismissive,” he lamented. Massimo Galli, director of the infectious diseases department of the Sacco hospital in Milan.

AG / MC