The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said on Tuesday it was “firmly convinced” of the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine against Covid-19, the use of which is suspended by several countries worried about possible side effects.
The World Health Organization, whose experts looked into the subject on Tuesday, as well as the EMA recommended continuing to administer the AstraZeneca vaccine.
The WHO stressed that there was no proven “connection” at this stage between the vaccine and serious blood problems seen in vaccinated people, and the European regulator believes that the benefits “outweigh the risks “.
“We remain firmly convinced that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine in preventing Covid-19, with its associated risk of hospitalization and death, outweigh the risk of these side effects,” said the executive director of EMA, Emer Cooke.
She said the agency was “examining” the “side effects associated with all vaccines,” although attention is currently focused on that of AstraZeneca.
These statements are “encouraging” and give “good hope” to see the resumption of vaccination with AstraZeneca, reacted French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.
Determined to reassure the French and show them “that it is safe to go there, Prime Minister Jean Castex has promised to be vaccinated” very quickly “if the green light is given.
Seven European states (Germany, France, Italy, Slovenia, Spain, Portugal and Latvia) on Monday extended the list of countries that suspended the administration of the vaccine from the Swedish-British laboratory following problems, such as difficulties in coagulating or the formation of clots (thrombosis), pending an opinion from the EMA. Sweden, Luxembourg and Cyprus followed suit on Tuesday.
The WHO expert advisory group on immunization met on Tuesday to study the vaccine, said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director general.
But “we don’t want people to panic,” WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan said.
The Covid-19 has killed more than 2.66 million people worldwide, including more than 900,000 in Europe, the most affected continent, according to a count made by AFP on Tuesday.
– “Acceleration” for Pfizer in the EU –
A total of fifteen countries have suspended the use of the vaccine as a precaution.
But Georgia and Sierra Leone launched their campaign with the vaccine on Monday, brushing aside fears of side effects. And in Thailand, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha received the first dose of AstraZeneca on Tuesday.
Astrazeneca says there is “no evidence of an increased risk” of a blood clot caused by its vaccine. And British Prime Minister Boris Johnson assured Tuesday that this vaccine, widely administered in the United Kingdom, was “safe” and “extremely” effective.
For AstraZeneca, these disappointments are added to a further drop in its deliveries to the European Union by June, which the laboratory was forced to announce citing export problems.
The EU “does not rule out” legal remedies against the laboratory, French Secretary of State for European Affairs Clément Beaune said on Tuesday, deploring the delays.
The EU also expects “more than 200 million doses” of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine in the second quarter, after an agreement providing for an “acceleration” of deliveries, the Commission said on Tuesday.
AstraZeneca for its part announced an agreement with the United States to provide the country this year with up to 700,000 doses of an antibody treatment under development against Covid-19.
And the American laboratory Moderna said it has started trials of its vaccine on thousands of children aged 6 months to 11 years, a clinical trial that involves a planned total of 6,750 children in the United States and Canada.
– Visas for people vaccinated in China –
China is on the verge of easing entry restrictions on its territory for nationals of certain countries, including the United States, but on condition that they have received a Chinese vaccine.
In Brazil, where the lack of doses is slowing the immunization campaign, President Jair Bolsonaro – widely criticized for his chaotic management of the health crisis – changed health minister again on Monday, thanking Eduardo Pazuello.
Mr. Pazuello had just announced the order of 138 million doses of vaccines to accelerate a too slow immunization campaign, while the pandemic worsens in Brazil, the second most bereaved country with nearly 280,000 dead.
In Europe, the arrival of a third wave of Covid-19 forced Italy to reconfine three quarters of its territory on Monday.
It is also raising concerns in Germany and France, raising the specter of further restrictions.
“The time has come to consider arrangements for the Paris region,” the French prime minister said Tuesday evening, describing a “worrying and critical situation”.
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