By Caroline Pailliez and Johan Ahlander
PARIS (Reuters) – Health authorities in some European countries are facing resistance to AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine after side effects led to hospital staff and other front-line patients being called in, further hampering the services already stretched .
Such symptoms, as reported in clinical trials for the AstraZeneca shot, may include high temperature or headache and are a normal sign that the body is producing an immune response. They usually fade within a day or so.
The other shots approved in Europe, developed by Pfizer and Moderna, have been linked to similar temporary side effects, including fever and fatigue.
But with the AstraZeneca survey being the latest to be rolled out, health authorities in France have taken the lead in scaring, two regions in Sweden have stopped vaccinations, and in Germany some essential workers are refusing.
A AstraZeneca spokesman said: “The reactions currently being reported are as we would expect, based on the evidence obtained from our clinical trial program.”
People receiving the vaccine are being closely monitored through routine pharmaceutical surveillance activities, the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker said, adding that he is still closely monitoring the situation.
“There were no confirmed serious adverse incidents,” the spokesman said.
‘NO MORE EFFECTS’
In France, which began administering the AstraZeneca survey on February 6, staff at a hospital in Normandy experienced stronger side effects than those seen with the alternative vaccine from Pfizer and German partner BioNTech.
“AstraZeneca has caused more side effects than the Pfizer vaccine,” said Melanie Cotigny, communications manager at Saint-Lo Hospital in Normandy.
“Between 10% and 15% of those who are vaccinated can have side effects from this vaccination, but it is only a feverish condition, fever, nausea and within 12 hours it disappears.”
Following similar reports from other hospitals, the French Medicines Safety Agency said on 11 February that such side effects were ‘known and described’, but that they should be monitored for their intensity.
It also provided guidelines for vaccinating staff members working together in teams to reduce the risk of disruption of operations.
The agency issued the advice after receiving 149 warnings about often severe flu-like side effects of the AstraZeneca vaccine. During this period, a total of 10,000 people received the shot nationwide.
Some U.S. hospitals and other organizations with front-line staff adopted a similar strategy when the country’s vaccination program began in December. The United States gives shots from Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna.
In Britain, home to the AstraZeneca vaccine developed at the University of Oxford, the policy was to make vaccinations readily available to hospital staff. So many shifts space the process naturally.
The issues in France highlight how some doctors and hospitals are still learning how to best administer vaccines while governments are taming the pandemic and shooting into the arms as quickly as possible.
It is also the latest setback for the French vaccination campaign, which has been criticized for a slow start. Last week, the government said just over 3% of the population had received their first dose.
In Sweden, two of 21 health areas interrupted workers’ vaccinations last week after a quarter called in sick after receiving the AstraZeneca shot.
The regions of Sormland and Gävleborg said that about 100 out of 400 people who were vaccinated reported fever or feverish symptoms. Most cases were mild and consistent with the side effects previously reported.
Both regions have said they will resume vaccinations, and the Swedish Medical Products Agency sees no reason to change its vaccination guidelines.
NO EXHIBITIONS
AstraZeneca’s vector-based vaccine is the third to receive regulatory approval in the European Union.
As part of the European Medicines Agency’s positive recommendation on 29 January, the watchdog concluded that it was approximately 60% effective, compared to more than 90% for Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.
It is also considered safe to use the product, and it will regularly monitor the reports of side effects.
In Germany, Health Minister Jens Spahn on Wednesday responded to reports that essential workers were reluctant to receive the AstraZeneca shot after some experienced strong side effects, saying it was safe and effective.
“I will be vaccinated with it immediately,” Spahn told reporters.
Like most European countries, German states usually do not offer people the choice of which vaccine they are going to get, which in some cases results in people not making appointments to get the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Germany received 737,000 doses from AstraZeneca, but administered only 107,000, according to figures from the Ministry of Health and the Robert Koch Institute leading its pandemic response.
“This vaccine is an excellent way to prevent serious COVID diseases,” said the health ministry in the eastern state of Saxony. ‘However, we note that there are still vacancy vaccination dates for AstraZeneca.
“From our point of view, it is wrong that this vaccine is available but not used,” he said, adding that it allocates extra shots to teachers and public health workers.
(Caroline Pailliez reported from Paris, Johan Ahlander from Stockholm; Additional reporting by Caroline Copley in Berlin, Ludwig Burger in Frankfurt, Richard Lough in Paris and Paul Sandle in London; Writing by Douglas Busvine; Edited by Josephine Mason and Nick Macfie)