European Medicines Agency official suggests ditching AstraZeneca vaccine
15 June, 2021
A high official in the European Medicines Agency said it could possibly be worth abandoning AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine for all age ranges where alternatives were available.
Marco Cavaleri, the EMA's head of vaccine strategy, also told Italy's La Stampa newspaper that Johnson & Johnson's vaccine ought to be preferred for all those aged over 60.
The so-called viral vector vaccines are authorised for everybody over 18 but have already been devote doubt by reports of rare blood clots.
The EU in addition has authorised the messenger RNA vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.
Italy on Saturday restricted AstraZeneca vaccines to persons aged 60 and over after concerns about medical risks for younger people.
Mr Cavaleri said it would be easier to ban AstraZeneca, including for the over 60s.
"Yes, and it is an option that lots of countries, such as for example France and Germany, are thinking about in the light of the increased option of mRNA vaccines," he said.
"However, incidents were very rare and following the first dose. It is true that there is less data on the next dose, but in the uk, it really is going well.
"Among teenagers, the risks of illness decrease, and the message for them is to use preferentially the mRNA vaccines but the choice is left to individual states."
Mr Cavaleri said the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine has "fewer problems than AstraZeneca", nonetheless it had been less trusted.
"With one dose it is useful for a few categories that are difficult to reach, but it remains an adenovirus [vaccine] and it is better reserve it for the over-60s," he said.
The EMA later tweeted: "Misinformation is making the rounds today.
"This can be a situation: the benefit-risk balance of AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine is positive and it remains authorised for all populations."
Messenger RNA technology trains your body to replicate spike proteins, similar to that on the coronavirus.
When exposed to the true virus later, your body recognises the spike proteins and can fight them off.
Viral vector vaccines such as those from AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson use a genetically engineered version of a common cold-causing adenovirus as a "vector" to shuttle genetic instructions into human cells.
Source: www.thenationalnews.com