The World Health Organization on Monday approved the use of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, paving the way for the spread of cheap and easy-to-store in low- and middle-income countries around the world.
A small clinical trial in South Africa recently did not show that the vaccine can prevent people from getting mild or moderate cases of Covid-19 caused by a coronavirus variant that spreads there. But the vaccine has protected all participants from serious illness and death in other trials, and can still prevent serious illness and death caused by the variant first detected in South Africa.
The authorization, which is expected after a panel of WHO experts recommended the use of the vaccine last week, applies to the two manufacturers of the vaccine: AstraZeneca and the Serum Institute, the Indian producer that will supply many doses for the Covax initiative to vaccinate poorer parts of the world.
The WHO approved the Pfizer-BionNTech vaccine last year. But much is expected to be decided on the vaccination of AstraZeneca, because the low price and easy storage requirements have made the vaccine the backbone of rollout plans in many countries around the world.
“Countries with no access to vaccines so far will eventually be able to vaccinate their health workers and populations, which contributes to the goal of the Covax facility to distribute fair vaccines,” he said. Mariângela Simão, the WHO Assistant Director-General for Access to Medicine and Health Products, reads a statement.
The WHO panel of experts recommends that the AstraZeneca vaccine be used in all adults and in countries where new variants are being distributed. Countries are expected to receive their first batches of the AstraZeneca vaccine from Covax later in February.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of the WHO, announced on Monday that the consent for the vaccine had been announced that although it appears that virus cases are falling in many parts of the world, countries must remain vigilant.
“If we stop fighting it on any front,” he would return. ‘
Following the announcement of the results of the small clinical trial of the AstraZeneca vaccine in South Africa, South Africa decided to suspend plans to distribute it. Instead, South Africa planned to vaccinate health workers with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which prevented hospitalizations and deaths in clinical trials in the country.
The WHO panel examining the AstraZeneca vaccine also recommends that it be given to adults regardless of their age, and it breaks with a number of European countries that prefer to restrict the use of the vaccine to younger people. And it is recommended that the two doses of the vaccine be given between four and 12 weeks apart, citing evidence that the vaccine works better if the second dose is delayed.