Europe might be experiencing a severe fourth wave in Covid hospital admissions due to the delay in distributing the AstraZeneca vaccine for older adults, according to the boss of today’s pharmaceutical giant.
Pascal Soriot is chief executive of AstraZeneca. He said that the EU countries’ decision to limit the jab earlier this year may explain why neighbouring nations are starting to see higher intens care rates, despite similar cases to the UK.
Only 67million doses AZ were distributed to the continent, compared with 440m Pfizer’s. However, recent research suggests that the UK jab offers greater protection from severe diseases in the elderly.
French President Emmanuel Macron was charged with politicizing the British-made vaccination rollout in January. He called it ‘quasi effective’ for those over 65, and said that the UK had rushed to approve it. This is what many described as Brexit bitterness.
Although the vaccine was approved in France and Germany for the elderly, it caused a lot of controversy and many Europeans urged their doctors to give the jab.
Some people, including Norway and Denmark have stopped using AZ completely.
Today, Mr Soriot told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘When you look at the UK there was a big peak of infections but not so many hospitalisations relative to Europe.
‘In the UK this vaccine was used to vaccinate older people whereas in Europe initially people thought the vaccine doesn’t work in older people.’
France, Germany (and the Netherlands), Italy, and the Netherlands were some of the countries that decided to ban the Oxford-made vaccine from older persons. The reason was that there wasn’t enough clinical evidence to support its safety and effectiveness. Some European countries opted to stop using the vaccine after a few reports about deadly blood clots.
AstraZeneca’s jab uses an older vaccine technology and produces more T-Cell responses in seniors than the MRNA vaccines made by Moderna or Pfizer, both of which are preferred in Europe.
It is more difficult for T-cells to be measured. However, these cells are likely to give longer lasting protection than antibody which provide a greater initial boost but then see the defense fade away faster. MRNA jabs stimulate antibody stimulation better than other methods.
In Europe, there are more Covid intensive-care inpatients than ever before. This is a trend that has been evident since the beginning of this year. Comparatively, the UK has a declining number of patients who require intensive care.
Only 67million doses AZ have been administered to continentwide, compared to 440m Pfizer’s. Recent studies also suggest that the UK jab is more effective in protecting against serious disease among older adults.
Britain became the’sickest man in Europe’ during the summer, as its Covid rate was higher than other countries. As Europe heads into winter, many European countries have been seeing their cases rise. UK testing is up to 10x higher than EU neighboring countries, which inflates the infection rate
Mr Soriot added: ‘T-cells do matter…it matters to the durability of the response especially in older people, and this vaccine has been shown to stimulate T-cells to a higher degree in older people,’ he said.
‘We haven’t seen many hospitalisations in the UK, a lot of infections for sure…but what matters is are you severely ill or not.’
Pascal Soriot is chief executive at AstraZeneca. He suggested that European countries’ decision to limit the jab earlier this year may explain why they are being hard hit by Covid
Europe’s relationship with the British made AstraZeneca vaccine has been fraught, with accusations of states playing politics with the vaccine.
Macron’s explosive comments questioning AstraZeneca’s effectiveness provoked outrage in January when he told an assembly of reporters: ‘Today we think that it is quasi-ineffective for people over 65.
Officially, I can inform you that AstraZeneca’s early results are not good news for those aged between 60 and 65.
His comments came following a decision by Germany’s vaccine commission to restrict the use of the AstraZeneca jab in older people, stating it was only 6.5 per cent effective for the age group.
Ursula von der Leyen (president of European Commission) also got into this issue and suggested that in February, the UK had made so much progress in its vaccination program by cutting corners when it came to safety.
British and European doctors expressed concern that Covid-infected older adults would put off receiving potentially life-saving vaccinations.
It was revealed later that the situation had been made. After Macron’s remarks and panic over the hyped concerns about blood clots, thousands in France turned down an opportunity to receive AstraZeneca Covid jabs.
The conflict over vaccines started in the beginning of 2021 amid a dispute over European vaccine supplies. Some European states threatened to seize shipments of vaccines intended for the UK.
The differences in vaccination policy may be one reason for differences between Europe and Britain in Covid cases, and hospitalisations. However, there are other possible factors.
There has been a variation in vaccine uptake by over-60s across Europe.
The average annual full vaccination uptake for older adults across Europe is 86.5 percent, but individual country levels can vary greatly.
Many people believe that Europeans are less careful than Britons in terms of social mixing over the past few months, with many returning to pre-pandemic levels of shopping and their commuting habits.
Others have speculated that Britain’s decision in July to reopen early in the summer frontloaded Covid cases into the summer, whereas Britain’s European neighbor, who were in lockdown for longer periods, are now experiencing this surge.
On ‘Freedom Day’ in July England dumped its remaining measures — including face masks and social distancing.
The virus was able to spread and the cases rose over the summer months, when the NHS wasn’t as busy.
The UK was slammed as the ‘sick man of Europe’ throughout the summer and autumn for consistently recording the highest levels of infection on the continent.
However, many European neighbors like Ireland, Austria and the Netherlands are experiencing a much higher rate of infection.
Boris Johnson, a British diplomat warned last week that Europe could continue to crash on Britain’s shores.
But he added there was nothing in the data at present to suggest England needed to move to Plan B — which would bring back face masks and work from home guidance.
Yesterday Austria became the first in Western Europe to impose a nationwide lockdown, with the Czech Republic and Slovakia have put the unvaccinated under stay-at-home orders.
Germany also considers making mandatory vaccines. Violent protests against the curbs were held in Belgium, Switzerland, and the Netherlands over the weekend.
Research later revealed that the risk of clotting problems in young people is much lower than in older people.