First modification: 07/04/2021 – 11:20Last modification: 07/04/2021 – 11:19
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London (AFP)
The COVID-19 vaccine developed by the American laboratory Moderna began to be used in the United Kingdom on Wednesday, as doubts grow about the AstraZeneca drug, investigated for its possible relationship with blood clots.
“Modern vaccine rollout begins today, starting with Carmarthen in Wales. We have ordered 17 million doses to be used across the UK in the coming weeks,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted.
Two vaccines, those developed by AstraZeneca / Oxford and by Pfizer / BioNtech, have so far been used in the mass vaccination campaign that began in early December in the country.
“Please get vaccinated as soon as you are contacted,” Johnson added, at a time when concern about the AstraZeneca / Oxford vaccine is growing in the wake of rare blood clots among a very small part of those vaccinated.
Until now, British health and political authorities have strongly defended the UK-developed vaccine. However, doubts arose, especially about the vaccination of the youngest, when most of those over 50 have already received a first dose.
Pending the opinion of the MHRA, the British regulatory body, the University of Oxford announced on Tuesday that it was suspending trials in children of the vaccine against covid-19 that it has developed with the Anglo-Swedish laboratory.
Seven fatal cases of thrombi were counted in the United Kingdom, out of a total of 30 identified cases, the regulatory body reported on Saturday. In total, more than 18 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine have been administered in the country.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is also evaluating whether this vaccine is linked to the formation of these rare blood clots.
As a precautionary measure, several countries decided to stop administering the vaccine below a certain age.
Concern about the AstraZeneca vaccine may affect the mass vaccination campaign in the United Kingdom, the country hardest hit by the pandemic in Europe, with almost 127,000 deaths.
Three out of every five adults have already received a first dose of the vaccine and the government’s goal is to have all of them reached by the end of July.
Maggie Wearmouth, a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI), suggested in the Daily Telegraph that it might be wise to “slow down” the deployment to the very young “until we are absolutely sure.”
© 2021 AFP
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