Amid a bitter dispute over the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine channel, one of the scientists behind the drug accused French President Emmanuel Macron of trying to suppress the question.
On Friday, Macron said the vaccine was “almost ineffective for people over 65, some say those who are 60 or older.”
“I do not know where he came from,” John Bell, a medical professor at Oxford University, told BBC Radio 4’s program Today on Saturday. ‘I suspect it’s a bit of question management from Mr. Macron, ‘he said, “If you did not have a vaccine, it is best to reduce demand.”
EU leaders reacted angrily this month to AstraZeneca’s announcement that production would be much lower than originally expected volumes. Macron’s new comments come hours before the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine has been approved by the EU regulator for use in all age groups.
While the European Medicines Agency said there was not enough evidence to assess its effectiveness in older people, they said there was no reason to think the vaccine would not work.
Bell, who oversaw vaccine development, conceded that the numbers of older people tested were ‘small, in fairness’, but the data ‘still indicate a very effective vaccine’ in all age groups.
The AstraZeneca vaccine is at the heart of an ongoing supply chain between the UK and the EU. The EU has asked the customs authorities on Friday to block the export of all vaccines from Saturday without explicit permission – an announcement that would initially include exports to Northern Ireland.
This caused immediate setbacks from both the EU capitals and London and a late turn from the European Commission due to the sensitivity of the Irish border arrangements.
EU chief negotiator Brexit Michel Barnier called for calm in the Times in an interview published on Saturday, saying: “I believe we must face this crisis responsibly, certainly not with the spirit of one upmanship. or unhealthy competition. “
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