KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) – The suspension of the AstraZeneca vaccine over the past week in several European countries could fuel skepticism about the shot far beyond their shores, potentially threatening the deployment of a vaccine that is key to the global strategy around the coronavirus pandemic, especially in developing countries.
As things stand now, it’s AstraZeneca or nothing for poorer countries. The vaccine from the Anglo-Swedish drug manufacturer is cheaper and easier to store than many others. This will account for almost all of the doses sent by COVAX in the first half of the year, a consortium designed to ensure that low- and middle-income countries receive vaccinations.
With little choice, most developing countries that had the AstraZeneca on hand continued, even though the major countries in Europe suspended its use. in the past week after reports that unusual blood clots were found in some recipients of the shot – despite insistence from international health agencies that there was no evidence that the vaccine was responsible.
But while governments in Africa and elsewhere have expressed their determination to use the shot, not everyone is convinced.
‘Why should I allow it to be used on me? Are we not people like those in Europe? ‘Peter Odongo, a resident of a town in northern Uganda, told the Daily Monitor this week.
The East African country has so far received 864,000 doses of AstraZeneca via COVAX, but by Tuesday less than 3,000 had been administered. Authorities blamed the logistical challenges in transporting the vaccines deep in the country, but newspaper reports cited resistance to the vaccine.
Even before the latest debate on AstraZeneca, skepticism about vaccines worldwide was a source of concern, as many people are hesitant about shots being developed in record time. African countries have faced certain obstacles on a continent that is wary of being a test field for the West. Some leaders pushed back against skepticism, while others, such as those in Burundi and Tanzania, fed it by apparently denying the seriousness of COVID-19.
“Unfortunate events” in Europe will “clearly not be of use to our public confidence, to ensure the public’s trust and confidence in the use of the specific vaccine and other vaccines,” said John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for sure, told reporters on Thursday when it urged African countries to continue vaccinations.
It came hours before the European Union’s drug regulator gave the same message to its 27 members. The European Medicines Agency has said that its experts have concluded that the vaccine is not linked to an overall increase in the risk of blood clots, but it may not definitively rule out a link with rare blood clots and the vaccine. In response, countries, including Italy, France and Germany, have announced they will resume use of the shot.
Even before the turnaround, several developing countries said they would stick to the shot.
“We will continue the vaccination,” said Ethiopia Health Minister Lia Tadesse, who received 2.2 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine last week.
Authorities in India – the home of the vaccine maker that is likely to make up a large part of the doses for the developing world – said on Wednesday that they would continue AstraZeneca vaccinations with “full force” as infections spread in various parts of the country . After Thailand initially said it would delay the use of the vaccine, it would continue with AstraZeneca, and the prime minister even got his chance in public.
The state-run Fiocruz Institute in Brazil on Wednesday delivered the first AstraZeneca shots bottled in Brazil as the Ministry of Health tried to allay concerns over the blood clot reports and call for calm.
Very few developing countries have maintained the trend. Congo, for example, has stopped using AstraZeneca and suspended its vaccination campaign even before it started, because there are no doses of anything else. Indonesia also initially interrupted the shot, but said Friday it will use it again.
European and other affluent countries have different vaccinations to choose from, but AstraZeneca is currently playing a key role in the strategy to vaccinate the rest of the world. Some developing countries received doses of Chinese or Russian-made vaccines – often as donations – but in Africa these allocations were usually relatively small. The Chinese and Russian vaccines have not yet been endorsed by the WHO and therefore cannot be distributed by COVAX.
Africa, with a population of 1.3 billion, hopes to vaccinate 60% of its population by 2022. The target will almost certainly not be achieved without the widespread use of AstraZeneca. And experts have warned that the virus remains everywhere until vaccination rates are high.
The weakening confidence in the AstraZeneca vaccine only exacerbates the problems with which Africa will launch its vaccination campaigns. The continent is home to some of the world’s poorest healthcare systems. Nations there have only struggled to test enough people for the coronavirus, and the actual toll is unknown due to challenges in detecting cases and deaths. According to the Africa CDC, more than 4 million cases of coronavirus have been confirmed across the continent, including more than 108,000 deaths.
In an analysis released on Thursday, the World Bank found that 85% of low- and middle-income countries have a plan to vaccinate, but less than a third had public engagement strategies to curb hesitation and misinformation about vaccines combat.
This means that confusion as the cause of the disruption in AstraZeneca across Europe can be difficult to iron out.
“It complicates the situation,” says Dr. Misaki Wayengera, head of a technical task force advising Uganda’s pandemic response, referring to the suspension. “This is the best shot we have here, and we need to be able to take it.”
The blow to public confidence was felt in countries such as Somalia, which began vaccinations on Tuesday, but where some have said they do not want the AstraZeneca shot, while many in Europe do not use it.
“This vaccination makes no sense when the countries in the EU” have suspended its use, “said Abdulkadir Osman. “We can not just trust it.”
In Rwanda, which received 240,000 doses of AstraZeneca and just over 102,000 of the Pfizer vaccine, Justin Gatsinzi said he was initially reluctant to take the chance, but conceded for fear of being denied public service. if he would refuse.
“It’s actually very annoying,” said Gatsinzi, a teacher, who said he did not know what vaccine he was getting.
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Associated Press journalists David Biller in Rio de Janeiro, Ignatius Ssuuna in Kigali, Rwanda, Ashok Sharma in New Delhi, Mohamed Sheikh Nor in Mogadishu, Somalia, Lori Hinnant in Paris and Maria Cheng in London all contributed to this report.