Displaying items by tag: Covid vaccine

AstraZeneca has announced the global withdrawal of its Covid-19 vaccine, Vaxzevria, citing a surplus of newer vaccines targeting emerging virus variants. The company previously halted its marketing authorization in the European Union in March, with the European Medicines Agency confirming on May 7 that the vaccine is no longer authorised. This decision reflects the reduced demand for Vaxzevria, which is no longer being manufactured or supplied. AstraZeneca stated that the variety of new vaccines available has led to this decline in use. Despite the withdrawal, the company highlighted that Vaxzevria played a crucial role in the pandemic's early stages, saving an estimated 6.5 million lives and delivering over 3 billion doses globally. Other countries, including Australia, have ceased its use, transitioning to newer vaccines since June 2021. Vaxzevria, which was administered in two doses and occasionally as a booster, is based on an adenovirus vector carrying a gene from SARS-CoV-2. While effective overall, it was linked to a rare but severe side effect, thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS), affecting about two to three per 100,000 vaccinated individuals.

Brussels will not export AstraZeneca’s (AZ) vaccine manufactured in the EU to the UK until it meets its vaccine commitment to the EU. Its internal market commissioner, emphasised, ‘there is nothing to negotiate’ referring to EU’s ongoing talks over vaccine production. He said coronavirus vaccine production from Belgium and the Netherlands matches vaccine commitment made by AZ to the EU and thus must be reserved for them. ‘If AZ does more, we don’t have any issue, but as long as it doesn’t deliver its commitment to us, the doses stay in Europe - except for Covax (a vaccine programme delivering vaccines to poor countries).’ He said they are trying to ensure that AZ’s contract with the EU is delivered. In August AZ agreed to supply 300 million doses, with an option for another 100 million doses. Unfortunately, the supply has been slow, and they slashed their commitment to 30 million in the first quarter.

Police have detained a 53-year-old man from Chatham after a suspicious package was sent to a Covid-19 vaccine factory in north Wales. He remains in custody as enquiries continue. However, the police said in a statement that there is no evidence to suggest there is an ongoing threat.

With the rollout of vaccines for Covid-19 now imminent, there are increasing concerns around misinformation (online or on social media) turning people against being immunised. The WHO says an overload of information, some false, makes it difficult for people to make decisions about their health. One participant in a coronavirus vaccine trial said, ‘It's often very difficult with the amount of information that we are being bombarded with to make sense of what you should be doing. I think a vaccine is one of the only ways out of the situation if we want to get away from endless lockdowns and curfews.’ Researchers have moved at record speed to develop vaccines, and the WHO is monitoring data from over 200 trials on several types of vaccine based on different technologies. They are going through the same safety tests as vaccines already used all around the world.