PARIS (AP) – First, France abruptly halted AstraZeneca’s vaccinations. The French prime minister now wants one as soon as he can.
As the virus rebounded from Paris to Budapest and beyond, European governments that hastened the use of AstraZeneca vaccines suspended after the blood clots were reported, realized the far-reaching impact of the move. And they suddenly look eager for any signal – or fig leaf – that enables them to resume the shots.
This could happen as soon as Thursday, when the European Medicines Agency will release the first results of the investigation into whether there is a link between the vaccine and the blood clots. So far, the EMA and the World Health Organization have said there is no evidence that the vaccine is to blame.
But experts are concerned that the damage has already been done. The suspensions by Germany, France, Italy, Spain and others have raised doubts about the much-maligned AstraZeneca vaccine and vaccination efforts in general, as the world struggles to overcome the pandemic..
‘There are thousands of new businesses every day in Germany, France, Italy, etc. If you stop vaccinating during this ongoing pandemic, you know people will die, “Michael Head, senior research fellow in global health at the University of Southampton, told The Associated Press.
While emphasizing the importance of investigating potentially dangerous side effects, he said: “It is entirely possible to investigate the signals without stopping the vaccine.”
Some countries stick to the AstraZeneca vaccines. India on Wednesday promised to continue vaccinations, hours before Brazil’s health minister bottled the country’s first doses of AstraZeneca.
New cases of coronavirus grew by 10% worldwide last week, driven by boom in Europe and America, the WHO reported on Wednesday, insisting on continued vaccinations.
“The disease is turning in the wrong direction, and we need to curb it,” he said. Michael Ryan, the emergency chief of the WHO, said. “We’ll get behind the virus again.”
The president of the European Commission made it clear even before the announcement of the medicine watchdog in Europe that the AstraZeneca vaccine will remain a pillar of the EU’s vaccine strategy.
“I trust AstraZeneca, I trust the vaccines,” said Ursula von der Leyen.
Instead of addressing the suspensions of the vaccine that divided the EU, von der Leyen focused on the supply problems of the drug business and revived the export ban on vaccines in the EU..
“AstraZeneca has unfortunately underproduced and under-delivered, and this has obviously painfully reduced the speed of the vaccination campaign,” she told reporters. She said the EU still aims to vaccinate 70% of all adults by September.
But AstraZeneca suspensions shoot up in numerous countries served another setback for the EU’s vaccination campaign, which is plagued by shortages and other obstacles and left behind by campaigns in Britain and the US. More than half of the EU’s 15 million AstraZeneca doses have so far been stored due to problems.
Almost as soon as the president of France froze the vaccinations on Monday, French top officials worried about the impact on public opinion in a country where many people already consider the AstraZeneca vaccine second-class and where skepticism about the vaccine is widespread.
The government now hopes to announce resumed vaccinations as soon as Thursday. The Paris region is facing new closure measures this week as more contagious, more harmful virus variants pushed the intensive care units beyond their means and revived infections, despite a nationwide evening clock at 18:00 and the closure of restaurants and many long-term businesses.
French Prime Minister Jean Castex, who is not eligible at the age of 55 and without any underlying health problems, said on national television on Tuesday night: ‘It would be wise to get vaccinated very quickly once the suspension is in place. I hope , lifted. ‘
Castex said it wanted to prove to its fellow citizens “that vaccination is the starting point of this crisis.”
Italy shows a similar line. Health Minister Roberto Speranza says European countries hope the EMA on Thursday will provide ‘the necessary explanations and reassurance’ to resume administering the AstraZeneca vaccine ‘without hesitation’.
In Germany, where eight cases of blood clots are being investigated, officials have defended the decision to suspend vaccinations for further investigation, but it looks like they want to start again soon. Hanno Kautz, spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, said: “It is clear that the EMA decision is binding and that we will of course follow the EMA decision as well.”
The president of Lithuania criticized the decision of the Minister of Health to suspend the shots, saying it was causing enormous damage to the entire vaccination process. ‘
The impact has extended beyond Europe, with some people considering the AstraZeneca vaccine as a subpar, even if it is the only one available.
Amós García, president of the Spanish Vaccinology Association, said it would be difficult for governments to build confidence in the overall coronavirus vaccination program, regardless of what the EMA announces.
“The problem when a vaccine is questioned is not that it affects the vaccine, but that it affects the whole vaccination world,” he said.
“Perhaps there has been an excess of zeal” among governments like Spain that has suspended vaccinations, he said. But he praised Europe’s vaccine monitoring systems for the rapid identification and investigation of blood clot issues. Spain is investigating three such cases.
Spanish Health Minister Carolina Darias defends the decision to seize the AstraZeneca vaccine, saying it is necessary to “continue to build confidence” in efforts to fight COVID-19.
The EMA says thousands of people across the EU develop blood clots each year for a variety of reasons and that there have been no reports of increased clotting incidents in clinical trials of the AstraZeneca vaccine. The company says there were 37 reports of blood clots among the more than 17 million people who received the vaccine across the EU and Britain.
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Cook reports from Brussels. Maria Cheng in London, Jamey Keaten in Geneva, Aritz Parra in Madrid, Colleen Barry in Milan and Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed.
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