LONDON (AP) – The repeated mistakes of AstraZeneca in reporting vaccine data along with a blood clot anxiety could damage the credibility of a shot that is the pivot in the global strategy to stop the coronavirus pandemic, and possibly even damage trust of the vaccine further undermined. say experts.
The latest hurdle to the vaccine came on Tuesday when U.S. officials issued an unusual statement expressing concern that AstraZeneca included “outdated information” when it reported encouraging results of a US trial the day before. This may have provided an “incomplete overview of the effectiveness data”, according to the statement.
AstraZeneca responded that the results, which showed that its shot was about 79% effective, included information until February 17, but appears to be more in line with more current data. It promised an update within 48 hours.
“I doubt if it was the intention of US officials to deliberately undermine confidence in the AstraZeneca vaccine,” said Dr. Paul Hunter, a professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia, said. “But it will probably cause more hesitation against vaccines.”
Even if the damage is limited to AstraZeneca itself, it will have far-reaching consequences, as the shot is cheaper and easier to store than many of its competitors and is therefore expected to be widely used in the developing world. International health agencies have repeatedly said the vaccine is safe and effective, but this is not the first time the company has experienced public trust issues.
Partial results of its first major trial – which Britain used to authorize the vaccine – were clouded by a manufacturing error that researchers did not immediately acknowledge. Insufficient data on how well the vaccine protects older people has led some countries to initially restrict its use to younger populations before reversing course. U.S. officials suspended a study from AstraZeneca for an unusual six weeks while searching for information on problems reported in Britain before deciding not to blame the vaccine. Meanwhile, the European Union has complained about delays in delivering vaccines from the company.
Last week, more than a dozen countries temporarily suspended their use of the AstraZeneca shot following reports of rare blood clots in some people who received it. The European Medicines Agency concluded that the shot did not increase the overall incidence of blood clots, but the unwanted attention seems to have left a mark.
In Norway, a top official warned on Monday that he may not be able to resume use of the vaccine because so many people reject it.
“People clearly say they do not want the AstraZeneca vaccine,” Marte Kvittum Tangen, who heads a Norwegian doctors’ association, told NRK.
Last week in Bucharest, Romania, vaccination coordinator Valeriu Gheorghita said 33,000 AstraZeneca immunization appointments were canceled within 24 hours and that about a third of the 10,000 people who would receive the vaccine did not show up. In Belgrade, Serbia, a sprawling exhibition center set up by people to get the AstraZeneca vaccine was mostly abandoned on Monday.
“Unfortunately, it’s more about perception than about science,” said Dr. Bharat Pankhania, a specialist in infectious diseases at the British University of Exeter, said.
“We have now, on several parameters, seen that the AstraZeneca vaccine provides protection and is safe,” he said. “But the story for the public was not yet so clear.”
France is an excellent example of confusion.
French President Emmanuel Macron initially suggested that the vaccine was not effective for older people, before returning it. Nevertheless, France only granted the vaccination of AstraZeneca to adults under 65 years of age, citing a lack of data. Then the government changes based on new data and says it is good for all adults. But when there were reports of rare blood clots at some vaccine recipients, the government suspended the use of the shot together. When France started AstraZeneca again, it banned the shot for anyone under 55.
The whiplash-inducing messages come at a time when France – like much of continental Europe – is struggling to speed up its vaccination journey, while also seeing an increase in hospital cases overwhelming hospitals and the threat of causing new connections.
At a European Parliament committee in Brussels on Tuesday, Sandra Gallina, head of the European Commission’s health directorate, described the situation with AstraZeneca as a disgrace. She said the struggling vaccination campaigns in Europe were “made much more difficult by the poor performance of AstraZeneca.”
The company blamed delays in delivering production issues.
Even if the drug manufacturer clears up the latest misunderstanding, it can have a lasting impact.
Julian Tang, a virologist at the University of Leicester, pointed to the decades-old controversy over the measles vaccine as a warning.
“There was absolutely no evidence to prove that the vaccine (measles, mumps and rubella) caused autism,” he said. But despite the withdrawal of the paper that made the claim, Tang said some people are still worried about the vaccine.
The lukewarm support for the AstraZeneca vaccine in Europe contrasts with governments in the developing world that are desperate for supplies.
Dr Bruce Aylward, a senior adviser at the World Health Organization, said the UN agency had a long list of countries that were “very eager” to get the chance as soon as possible. “We simply can not get enough of it,” he said.
But some experts are worried that skepticism in Europe may finally fall about the vaccine worldwide. They proposed one measure that reassures a tumultuous public: a green light from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
“If the U.S. regulator looks at this data and approves AstraZeneca, it will carry a lot of weight,” said Jimmy Whitworth, a professor of international public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
AstraZeneca said it would submit its data to the FDA within a few weeks.
It is still possible that the vaccine may bury the doubt. At a vaccination center in Lisbon, 68-year-old Rui Manuel Martins dismissed the concerns, saying millions had been vaccinated with very few adverse effects.
“There are always cases where people turn down medication,” he said before receiving his first dose. “It’s better to be vaccinated than not.”
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Associated Press writers Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Angela Charlton in Paris, Stephen McGrath in Bucharest, Romania, Jamey Keaten in Geneva, Dusan Stojanovic in Belgrade, Serbia, Helena Alves in Lisbon, Samuel Petrequin and Raf Casert in Brussels and Lauran Neergaard in Washington contributed to this report.
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This story has been updated to correct that France has now banned AstraZeneca for anyone under 55.