[ad_1]
AstraZeneca vaccine has now been approved for use in the EU
The European medicines regulator has approved the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine for people over the age of 18.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said the AstraZeneca vaccine was around 60% effective in the trials it based its decision on.
The move comes amid a dispute over whether Astra-Zeneca is breaching its vaccine delivery commitments to the EU.
The European Commission has published its contract with the Anglo-Swedish drug maker, hoping to show a break.
What is the supply line about?
AstraZeneca last week said vaccine stocks would be reduced due to problems at one of its EU factories.
The deficit is expected to be around 60% in the first quarter of 2021. The EU has also received fewer doses than expected of the two other vaccines it has approved – from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.
The EU has said AstraZeneca must honor its commitments and deliver the ordered jabs by diverting doses made in the UK. But the company said its contract for supplies in the UK was preventing it.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen told German radio on Friday that the EU contract signed in August contained “binding orders” and called for an explanation.
The commission later said it had agreed to a plan to introduce export controls on coronavirus vaccines. This means that each Member State will decide whether or not to authorize the export of vaccines produced on their territory. It will be in place until the end of March.
An EU commissioner said it was being introduced to improve transparency and ensure that all EU citizens have access to vaccines.
How effective is the AstraZeneca vaccine?
The German Vaccine Commission said this week it could not recommend the use of the vaccine in people over the age of 65, citing a lack of data on how it affects this age group.
The UK has been using the AstraZeneca vaccine in its mass immunization schedule for weeks now, and public health officials say it is safe and offers “high levels of protection”.
Confirming that it had approved the vaccine, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said most of the participants in the test studies were between 18 and 55 years old. He said that while there were not enough results yet to show how the vaccine will work in the elderly, “protection is expected, as an immune response is observed in this age group and based on on experience with other vaccines. “
Each country in the EU can still decide who to administer the vaccines to, once they have been approved.
Providing vaccines will be the big test
It would have been very surprising that EU regulators had not given the green light for this vaccine of which they have pre-ordered hundreds of millions of doses. The UK approved it weeks ago and millions of people in Britain have already received their first injection which should offer them protection very soon.
Tests show that it is very effective in preventing serious illness and death from coronaviruses. But there have been questions about its effectiveness in people aged 65 and over, as there isn’t as much data for this age group – less than 10% of the trial volunteers were in this. age range. However, there is other evidence to suggest that the vaccine works very well in older people.
Studies show that, like other age groups, those over 65 have a strong immune response to the vaccine. After receiving the injections, their blood contains a lot of antibodies needed to fight the coronavirus. It will be up to each country to decide to whom – including which age groups – to offer the pictures.
The bigger question will be how soon EU countries can receive large vaccine shipments. Supplies of this and other Covid vaccines are in high demand, but there is a limit to how much can be made at the pace.
[ad_2]
Source link
