Europe’s decision to suspend the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine in places comes at the worst possible time, with global officials trying to avoid setbacks in the pandemic effort and to ease hesitancy around the COVID-19 shots at large.
The European Medicines Agency said Tuesday it is feverishly poring over medical records after about 30 reports of blood disorders, including clots, out of 5 million recipients of the vaccine in the European Economic Area. Regulators expect to report findings by Thursday.
The reported incidents caused roughly a dozen European countries — including Italy, France and Germany — to pause the AstraZeneca rollout, befuddling scientists who say there isn’t a conclusive link between the clotting and the vaccine. Experts worry the delay in settling the matter will hold back the global effort to contain the virus while inflaming any doubts about vaccination.
“It’s a double whammy. The vaccine community doesn’t explain how they know what’s linked up to vaccines in terms of bad outcomes or isn’t, and the anti-vax community has a complete party using that confusion and doubt to stoke vaccine hesitancy. Really bad news,” said Arthur Caplan, director of the division of medical ethics at the New York University Grossman School of Medicine.
AstraZeneca developed its vaccine with Oxford University in the U.K. It’s been used extensively in Britain, which assured the public the vaccine is safe and effective even as other European nations hit the pause button.
This vaccine isn’t being used in the U.S. — it is still in trials — but suspected incidents abroad come as the Biden administration and others warn that vaccine hesitancy could slow the path to herd immunity once vaccine supply catches up with demand.
Catholic groups have expressed concerns about the Johnson & Johnson vaccine’s use of abortion-derived cell lines, polls suggest GOP men and rural residents are resistant to the COVID-19 shots, and experts say longtime vaccination opponents on the left — parents who falsely believe vaccines cause autism and other conditions — are still causing trouble online.
“They’re trying hard to use every bit of worry and concern to amplify their vaccine position. They’re really pumping it up on websites,” said Mr. Caplan.
Dr. Anthony Fauci stressed Tuesday the lack of adverse events among the vaccines being used here.
“We’ve had some allergic reactions that we’re well aware of — some anaphylactic reactions to the Moderna and the Pfizer product. It ranges somewhere between two to four per million vaccinations,” Dr. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “That’s still quite a low level of an adverse event. Other than that, there does not appear to be anything that is what we call a red flag.”
AstraZeneca could seek approval for its vaccine from U.S. regulators in the coming weeks or months. For now, the White House says it secured enough doses from available versions to serve every U.S. adult who wants a COVID-19 vaccine.
Still, the AstraZeneca vaccine is considered a vital tool for the rest of the globe. It is easy to store and less expensive than other vaccines, so it’s been earmarked for use in many developing countries.
In a written statement, AstraZeneca said safety is “our first priority.”
“We are working with national health authorities and European officials and look forward to their assessment later this week,” the company said. “Around 17 million people in the EU and U.K. have now received our vaccine, and the number of cases of blood clots reported in this group is lower than the hundreds of cases that would be expected among the general population.”
Nations within the European Union are also getting vaccines from other makers.
The European Commission on Tuesday said Pfizer agreed to accelerate the delivery of 10 million doses, bringing expected deliveries for the second quarter to over 200 million.
“This is very good news. It gives member states room to maneuver and possibly fill gaps in deliveries,” said Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Pfizer has already shipped 46 million doses to the EU.
Meanwhile, J&J this month committed to providing 200 million doses of its one-shot vaccine in 2021, starting in the second quarter.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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