German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a press conference on March 23, 2021 afp_tickers
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–This content was published on March 23, 2021 – 05:50
23 March 2021 – 05:50
(AFP)
The United States health regulator expressed “concern” that AstraZeneca has included “outdated” data in its clinical trials in that country of its vaccine against covid-19, which renews doubts about the efficacy and safety of that drug.
The suspicions raised from the United States for one of the most used vaccines come at a time when the worsening of the pandemic worries Europe and Latin America and demands new restrictions for Easter in countries such as Germany and Brazil.
AstraZeneca said Monday that trials in more than 32,000 people in the United States showed that the vaccine is 79% effective in preventing symptomatic covid-19 in the population and 100% in avoiding severe forms of the disease and hospitalization, ensuring In addition, it does not increase the risk of blood clots.
But in a statement released late Monday night, the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) expressed “concern that AstraZeneca may have included outdated information in this trial, which may have resulted in an incomplete estimate of efficacy. “
“We urge the lab to work with the DSMB (Data and Safety Monitoring Board, a group of independent experts charged with overseeing clinical trials, ndlr) to review efficacy and ensure that the most accurate, specific, and up-to-date data is published as fast as possible, “he added.
The AstraZeneca vaccine is cheaper and easier to store than others, but several countries temporarily suspended vaccination with this drug last week due to isolated cases of blood clots in some people who received it.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) consider it safe and effective, and the drug was again administered in several countries.
But the mistrust continues. A YouGov firm survey showed that a majority of respondents in major European countries doubt that the vaccine is safe.
In addition, European officials expressed their anger that the Anglo-Swedish laboratory delivered on the promised deliveries to the United Kingdom, but not to the European Union.
– “A new pandemic” –
The pressure is even greater because the health situation in Europe is not improving. Germany, facing a rise in infections, will reinforce confinement during Easter, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced on Tuesday.
After nearly 12-hour negotiations with the federal states, Merkel said most shops will close and religious services will be canceled in Germany from April 1-5.
Germany entered a “new pandemic … clearly more lethal, clearly more infectious and contagious for a longer time,” due to the spread of covid-19 variants, Merkel said.
In France, where new restrictions apply, 35 large vaccination centers will be opened “in the coming days” to accelerate the rate of inoculations, a minister from the government of Emmanuel Macron, who was criticized for the slowness of the campaign, announced on Tuesday.
For its part, the United Kingdom, the most mourning country in Europe, commemorates the anniversary of the first confinement on Tuesday with a “National Day of Reflection”, in which Parliament will observe a minute of silence in honor of the 126,000 killed by the covid- 19.
The tribute will serve health workers and all British people for their efforts.
– Is Putin vaccinated? –
The controversy over vaccine safety is not just about AstraZeneca. It also concerns the possible homologation of the Russian Sputnik V in the European Union, before which President Vladimir Putin warned: “We are not imposing anything on anyone.”
The 68-year-old president will be vaccinated this Tuesday, in a private act.
The Sputnik V vaccine raises skepticism in the West, because it was introduced last year before undergoing large-scale clinical trials.
The European Union is also divided over the tightening of export conditions for vaccines manufactured in its territory, a measure directed at AstraZeneca and that fuels tensions with London, which is more advanced in its immunization campaign.
The 27, in conflict with the Swedish-British group for deliveries much lower than expected, will have a telematic summit Thursday and Friday.
– Measurements in Rio –
Vaccination campaigns are crucial in the fight to end a pandemic that has killed more than 2.7 million people since it emerged in China in late 2019.
More than 430 million doses have been distributed worldwide, mostly in the richest countries, while many poor states have yet to receive a single vaccine.
Latin America experiences this unequal distribution firsthand, and restrictions are not diminishing in the region either.
In Brazil, which with 295,425 deaths and more than 12 million infections is the second most mourning country after the United States, Rio de Janeiro announced that it will be a holiday from March 26 to April 4, to restrict movement as much as possible, with a touch of stays overnight.
Political disputes over the pandemic are multiplying in Brazil. On Monday the governor of Sao Paulo, Joao Doria, called President Jair Bolsonaro a “psychopath”, who has downplayed the pandemic, promoted agglomerations with his supporters, criticized restrictions and sowed doubts about vaccines.
Also the president of neighboring Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, ordered to extend the confinement during Holy Week to stop the advance of the Brazilian variant.
The fight against covid-19 is not limited to vaccines. The Swiss group Roche on Tuesday revealed promising results of clinical trials for the experimental cocktail of treatments combining the drugs casirivimab and imdevimab, in which it collaborates with the US laboratory Regeneron for out-of-hospital patients.
burs-ahe / roc / lda / erl-mar / mis
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