KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) – The suspension of the AstraZeneca vaccine in several European countries last week could fuel skepticism about the injection far beyond its back, potentially threatening the launch of a vaccine that is critical to the global strategy to eradicate the pandemic. of coronavirus, especially in developing countries.
As it is, it is either AstraZeneca or nothing for some poorer countries. The vaccine by the Anglo-Swedish manufacturer is cheaper and easier to store than many others. It will represent almost all doses shipped in the first half of the year by COVAX, a consortium that aims to ensure that low- and middle-income countries receive vaccines.
With few other options, most of the developing countries that had AstraZeneca in hand took it forward, even with the main countries in Europe suspending its use. last week, after reports that unusual blood clots were found in some recipients of the injection – despite the insistence of international health agencies that there was no evidence that the vaccine was responsible.
But while governments in Africa and elsewhere express their determination to continue using the shot, not everyone is convinced.
“Why should I allow it to be used on me? Are we not human beings like those in Europe? ”Peter Odongo, a city resident in northern Uganda, told the Daily Monitor this week.
The East African country has received 864,000 doses of AstraZeneca via COVAX so far, but administered less than 3,000 on Tuesday. The authorities blamed the logistical challenges in transporting vaccines to the interior of the country, but newspaper reports cite resistance to the vaccine.
Even before the last debate on AstraZeneca, skepticism about the vaccine was a concern worldwide, as many people hesitate about vaccines developed in record time. African countries faced specific obstacles on a continent, fearing it would be a testing ground for the West. Some leaders resisted skepticism, while others, such as those in Burundi and Tanzania, fed it, seeming to deny the seriousness of COVID-19.
“Unfortunate events” in Europe “will clearly not be useful for our public trust, in building public trust and confidence in the use of this particular vaccine and other vaccines for sure”, John Nkengasong, director of the African Centers for Control and Prevention Disease Prevention, he told reporters on Thursday, while encouraging African countries to continue their vaccinations.
This happened hours before the European Union’s drug regulator gave the same message to its 27 members. The European Medicines Agency said its experts concluded that the vaccine it is not associated with an overall increased risk of blood clots, although it cannot definitively exclude a link to rare types of clots and the vaccine. In response, countries such as Italy, France and Germany announced that they would resume using the shot.
Even before these reversals, several developing countries had said they would maintain the shot.
“We will continue with inoculations,” said Lia Tadesse, Ethiopian Minister of Health, who received 2.2 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine last week.
Authorities in India – home to the vaccine manufacturer who is likely to make a large portion of doses for the developing world – said on Wednesday that AstraZeneca inoculations will continue with “full vigor” as infections increase in various parts of the world. parents. After saying initially that it would delay the use of the vaccine, Thailand said on Tuesday that it would continue with AstraZeneca, and the prime minister even gave his injection in public.
The Brazilian state-owned Fiocruz institute delivered the first AstraZeneca injections bottled in Brazil on Wednesday, while the Ministry of Health was trying to dispel concerns about blood clot reports, calling for calm.
Very few developing countries have resisted the trend. Congo, for example, has suspended the use of AstraZeneca, suspending its vaccination campaign even before it starts, as there are no more doses of anything else. Indonesia also initially paused the injection, but later said on Friday it would resume use.
European countries and other rich countries have several vaccines to choose from, but AstraZeneca is currently the axis of the strategy to vaccinate the rest of the world. Some developing countries have received doses of Chinese or Russian vaccines – often as donations – but, at least in Africa, these allocations are usually relatively small. Chinese and Russian vaccines have not yet been approved by the WHO and therefore cannot be distributed by COVAX.
Africa, with a population of 1.3 billion, expects to vaccinate 60% of its population by the end of 2022. This goal will almost certainly not be achieved without the widespread use of AstraZeneca. And experts warn that, until vaccination rates are high worldwide, the virus remains a threat everywhere.
The erosion of confidence in the AstraZeneca vaccine only exacerbates the difficulties that Africa will face in launching its inoculation campaigns. The continent is home to some of the weakest health systems in the world. Nations have struggled just to test enough people for the coronavirus, and the actual number is unknown because of the challenges in tracking cases and deaths. According to Africa’s CDC, more than 4 million cases of coronavirus have been confirmed across the continent, including more than 108,000 deaths.
In an analysis released on Thursday, the World Bank found that 85% of low- and middle-income countries had a vaccination plan, but less than a third had public engagement strategies to combat hesitation and misinformation about vaccines.
This means that the confusion caused by the AstraZeneca break across Europe can be difficult to resolve.
“It complicates the situation,” said Dr. Misaki Wayengera, head of a technical task force that is advising the response to the Ugandan pandemic, referring to the suspension. “It is the best photo we have here, and we should be able to take it.”
The blow to public confidence was felt in countries like Somalia, which started vaccination on Tuesday, but where some said they were not interested in bringing the AstraZeneca vaccine while many in Europe were not using it.
“This immunization does not make sense when EU countries” have stopped using it, said Abdulkadir Osman. “We can’t just trust him.”
In Rwanda, which received 240,000 doses of AstraZeneca and just over 102,000 of the Pfizer vaccine, Justin Gatsinzi said he was initially reluctant to receive the injection, but he relented for fear of having some public services denied if he refused.
“It is very complicated, actually,” said Gatsinzi, a professor, adding that he was not told which vaccine he got.
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Associated Press journalists David Biller in Rio de Janeiro, Ignatius Ssuuna in Kigali, Rwanda, Ashok Sharma in New Delhi, Mohamed Sheikh Nor in Mogadishu, Somalia, Lori Hinnant in Paris and Maria Cheng in London contributed to this report.