Government decides on reopening, US postpones decision on Johnson & Johnson vaccine

The European Medicines Agency “Ema, pulled by the jacket relentlessly since January 29, the day it approved the vaccine, was forced to reiterate every 2-3 days that the serum AstraZeneca was and is as effective and safe as all other validated products. In the end he reaffirmed once again that at the moment nothing authorizes to argue that there is a causal link with thrombotic events, underlining that obviously the pharmacovigilance activity continues with due attention and scrupulousness “. To reiterate the safety of the Anglo-Swedish vaccine. is Piero Di Lorenzo, president and CEO of Irbm of Pomezia, the research center that developed the product in collaboration with the University of Oxford. In an interview with La Stampa, Di Lorenzo prefers not to comment on the choices that will be made on Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine which is very similar to AstraZeneca’s serum. While on the possibility that the European Union from 2022 will abandon viral vector preparations in favor of those with mRna such as Pfizer or Moderna, “I take note of what you are telling me and obviously I do not comment on the choices of the Commission and European governments”.

Returning to Vaxzevria, “many things have happened that have strongly influenced first production and then distribution – analyzes Di Lorenzo – A set of events that have severely tested the titanic effort that AstraZeneca has put in place to produce 3 billion doses in the 2021 and certainly not out of greed, given that it sells at the price of industrial cost “. One of the hypotheses on rare thrombosis reported after the administration of the vaccine is that the risk may be connected to the adenovirus used as a vector of the genetic information necessary for cells to produce the Spike protein of Sars-CoV-2, the part developed in Pomezia. . Is it likely? “It is precisely one of the hypotheses. If something happens whose causes are not known at all, we can hypothesize everything and the opposite. It is useless to discuss a fact that at present is not supported by any element worthy of note”. “I am amazed – comments Di Lorenzo – by the patience and diplomatic ability shown by EMA executives who, despite being subject to unspeakable media pressure, reiterated the safety of the vaccine and the more than positive balance of the cost-benefit ratio. What is certain is that, since not everyone is required to be an expert virologist, the bombardment of misleading, tendentious and sometimes even false news has created in many an attitude of understandable skepticism. But I am confident that, as the fog of a certain narrative clears, the the population can understand and react in a rational way. In Basilicata, for example, there was a rush for the AstraZeneca vaccine “.

Di Lorenzo believes that “the various formulations of the optimal age for the use of the vaccine did not help to reassure people, but we must always remember the conditions in which decisions were taken”, he reasons, inviting citizens to trust vaccines. “because the pharmacovigilance system of European countries is absolutely valid. The time taken to discover the vaccines was a record, but only because a lot of money has been put into the system and an incredible number of scientists and research centers have been involved. As for the race for profit, I remember that Oxford University and AstraZeneca gave up any profit in the pandemic to privilege the right to health and since it was a solo choice, I am particularly proud to have participated in this rewarding adventure with partners who have showed immense ethical sensitivity, on which, moreover, I did not find the right media attention “. But why of the 300 million doses planned for Europe have only 30 arrived so far?” The great problem that AstraZeneca has encountered in starting the large-scale production is in the Belgian manufacture – replica Di Lorenzo – Unfortunately, the vaccine is not a synthetic product, but a living one, and when a technology transfer is made, the result in terms of yield can also be much lower than hoped for. To reset a production process sometimes it takes months, not days: unfortunately in this case the availability of the months was not there. To this is added a political problem that is there for all to see. The countries in which AstraZeneca concentrates the greatest production capacity are England, India and the USA, which have adopted protectionist policies in the export of vaccines. I trust in the prestige and international weight of our Prime Minister, who I am sure will be able to unblock these restrictions so that the necessary doses can arrive as soon as possible in Italy “.

The AstraZeneca vaccine is the cheapest and now other companies are raising the price. Are we witnessing a war between giants to dominate the market? “Absolutely not – he points out – I never said or thought that it was a trade war between multinationals. I said and I repeat that I witnessed a ‘nationalist’ media campaign, in which at the beginning there was cheering for the country it was supposed to put the flag on the moon. Then the narration continued with the aim of making believe that the price set by AstraZeneca was not due to a splendid ethical choice, but to the lower efficacy and safety of the vaccine “. “Do you want a test? A few days ago an eighty year old in Senigallia died 12 hours after the vaccine. It was not AstraZeneca and I will not say the name because I am convinced that that vaccine is not related to the death. But I have not seen a news in the newspapers: if that person had been vaccinated with AstraZeneca, it would have been the opening of the news and 9-column headlines of the newspapers “. But now how do you recover lost trust? “I know well that the president of AstraZeneca Italia, Lorenzo Wittum, is doing the impossible to honor the commitments made with the Government – concludes the manager – and I think that the ministers concerned realize that, net of the objective difficulties, they are making every effort to regain confidence. “

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