Genoa – An appeal by twenty-four vaccinators to highlight the “weak point of the AstraZeneca vaccine” was published on the Facebook profile of the Ligurian regional councilor Ferruccio Sansa, who undertook to submit a question.
“The vaccination campaign continues at full speed but, contrary to what was expected, the AstraZeneca vaccine that Europe had aimed at did not take off, and many doses are lying unused in the refrigerators”, write the signatory doctors. “AZ has a weak point, absent in RNA vaccines: it can cause venous thrombosis associated with decreased platelets, which occurs 5-15 days after vaccination and can be fatal. This complication has been described in people aged 20 to 55, but by far the most affected are young women. Vaccine-induced thrombosis, which is not caused by RNA vaccines, is very rare. Obviously, however, in a mass vaccination there is also a complication very rare but potentially lethal it can cause a significant number of deaths, even in subjects who, by sex and age, like young women, have a practically zero risk of dying from Covid ”.
“AstraZeneca vaccine has never been approved by the US drug agency (FDA) and has been eliminated from the vaccination program of various European countries, such as Austria, Norway and Denmark. Others have put restrictions on the use of AZ: in Italy it was recommended the preferential use in people over the age of 60, in France in the over 55. Also in England in March AstraZeneca was limited to the over 30s, and the limitation has now been extended to over 40s. Furthermore, those who have already had AstraZeneca as their first dose, the second is given with an RNA vaccine. In Germany, citizens can choose their vaccine. Who has taken AZ as the first dose, can choose an RNA vaccine for the second “.
“Recently – continue the 24 doctors – the Italian government has decided to allow the regions to organize vaccination open days with AstraZeneca open to all. Numerous regions have already joined. Even in Liguria, from 24 May, citizens over 18 have been able to book for Astrazeneca or Johnson & Johnson. Seats quickly sold out sparking rave reviews in the press and promises that the experience will be repeated. In reality, this initiative is hardly acceptable if, as always must be done in the case of drugs and vaccines, the risks are compared with the benefits. In subjects under 40 who do not have comorbidities, the risk of venous thrombosis with thrombocytopenia is sufficient to strongly advise against vaccination of AstraZeneca. In fact, in this age group, lethality due to Covid-19 in Italy is close to zero, and hospitalization is very rare. Therefore the possibility of having platelet-deficiency thrombosis following vaccination with AstraZeneca, although very rare, represents a higher risk in healthy young people than Covid-19. On the other hand, in subjects over 40, the risk of serious illness, hospitalization and death from covid-19 clearly outweighs the risk of platelet thrombosis ”.
“As volunteer vaccinating doctors we are against the AstraZeneca Open days, because the administration of this vaccine to subjects under the age of 40, in particular women, could involve more risks than benefits, even if rarely causing potentially fatal complications “. “The fight against the virus cannot be separated from transparency: regulatory bodies and doctors must provide complete, understandable and truthful information if we want to overcome the pandemic in a short time, strengthen trust in the institutions and avoid unnecessary risks among our young people”.
These are the names of the signatory doctors: Anna Rubartelli, Nicola Acquarone, Gabriela Arrigoni, Marcello Bagnasco, Daniela Bertagna, Gabriella Bruzzone, Chicco Bonalumi, Leo Chessa, Maria Antonietta Damerio; Enrico Haupt, Antonio Manti, Paola Minale; Federico Oggiano; Orietta Ortino, Renzo Poggio, Mariateresa Re, Vittoria Repetto, Guido Rodriguez, Adele Rossi, Angela Parodi, Daniela Salmeri, Carlo Venzano, Anna Vignoli, Susanna Voltolini.
The president of the Genoa Medical Association: “Now they risk disciplinary proceedings”
“I don’t like this story. I want to understand right away if there are grounds for opening disciplinary proceedings against these colleagues “. The president of the Order of Doctors of Genoa, Alessandro Bonsignore, admits that he was unaware of the open letter from 24 Genoese white coats. “We are talking about a group of volunteer vaccinators who must support the vaccination campaign and not raise doubts and suspicions in people: how can we say that AstraZeneca’s vaccine can be dangerous when it has been authorized by Aifa? I am not the scientific authority and certain words do damage. In Liguria, as in all of Italy, there has been an extraordinary commitment for months to vaccinate the greatest number of people to reduce the risks of Covid: it is right to carry on the scientific debate, but such a delicate issue cannot be fed to social networks “.
Bonsignore wants to summon some doctors as soon as possible, starting with the former San Martino surgeon Leonardo Chessa who had proposed himself as the representative of a small group of volunteers, when it was difficult to find vaccinators. “Words have weight and can do damage. Such a text cannot end up on Facebook and then be exploited from a political point of view. How can we say that among young people there is little awareness of the risks of vaccination? They are doctors and must always take into consideration the fact that the vaccination campaign is carried out to protect public health. Many young people get vaccinated to protect their parents and the elderly people they attend: for them the risk of getting infected is very low but the vaccine, whether Pfizer or AstraZeneca, reduces the circulation of the virus “. Bonsignore, displaced by the initiative of the twenty-four doctors, disputes their public release: “You cannot put such a delicate topic on Facebook and confuse the ideas of non-professionals, if anything, it is discussed in Alisa with specialists such as Icardi and Ansaldi: it is an ethical problem and therefore they will have to answer for what they have written ”.
Cambiamo regional councilors: “The decision to administer AstraZeneca to under 60s was made by Aifa”
“We are amazed and at the same time embittered to read what was reported today by Councilor Ferruccio Sansa, who copied and pasted a letter, not even recent, from some volunteer vaccinating doctors on the administration with AstraZeneca to the under 60”. So the group Let’s change! in the Regional Council replies to Sansa’s post on social media in which he announces the presentation of a question to the Council.
“We are embittered because with that gesture he is once again disqualifying the work of the Ligurian healthcare system which is grappling with a gigantic effort and is obtaining some of the best results in Italy – the orange councilors reiterate – And we are amazed because the explanation to Sansa is soon date: the decision to administer AstraZeneca to under-60s was made by AIFA, the Italian Medicines Agency, and the Liguria Region has adapted by offering this possibility only and exclusively on a voluntary basis. Furthermore, during the booking phase, the characteristics of the vaccine chosen are disclosed several times and no open day has been organized with files outside the clinics as has happened elsewhere, but a certain quantity of doses has been made available in a parallel line. We also want to remember that in several other countries, including England, AstraZeneca has been administered to a large part of the population with comforting results. We really do not understand, therefore, the reason for this action by the councilor which risks confusing the ideas of the citizens ”.
–
