PARIS (Reuters) – Nadine Roger, 60, recovering from breast cancer, is at high risk with COVID-19 and wants to be vaccinated as soon as possible. However, when she was offered the vaccine manufactured by AstraZeneca, she refused.
“AstraZeneca (shot) scares me,” she said. Roger, a medical technician, said he would instead wait for the shot by American firm Johnson & Johnson, which has yet to be approved by European regulators.
According to the latest data made available by the French Ministry of Health, at the end of February, France was using 24% of its doses of AstraZeneca, compared with 82% for vaccines made by Pfizer / BioNTech and 37% for Modern injection .
This is partly due to logistical bottlenecks, but also because some French people do not trust the AstraZeneca injection – despite several scientific studies that indicate it is safe and effective – according to interviews conducted by Reuters with eight people involved in the launch of the vaccine in France .
They said some of those who received the vaccine were concerned about the side effects, skeptical that it was effective against new variants of COVID-19 and confused by changing evidence about how well it works for older people.
The AstraZeneca vaccine had an uneven genesis.
European regulators have recommended that it should not be used by people over 65, claiming a lack of data. French President Emmanuel Macron was quoted as saying that the shot was “almost ineffective” and the French regulator asked hospitals to schedule their employees’ vaccines after the side effects prompted frontline officials to say they were sick.
“All of this sent the wrong signal to healthcare professionals, but also to the rest of the population,” said Jacques Battistoni, head of France’s largest general practitioners’ union.
CHANGING TACK
To be sure, France is one of the most skeptical countries about vaccination in the world, although research has shown that the proportion of the public who wants to be vaccinated is increasing.
Like other wealthy countries, France has made the AstraZeneca injection a cornerstone of its vaccine launch. With all the major vaccine manufacturers facing production problems, countries cannot allow people to reject one of the vaccines.
A health ministry official and two doctors involved in the implementation said acceptance is accelerating as logistics improves and people get used to the AstraZeneca injection.
Doses of AstraZenaca were initially to be delivered to hospitals and vaccination centers for the inoculation of health professionals and to general practitioners for vaccinations between 50 and 64 years of age with pre-existing diseases.
In the first week of the launch of AstraZenaca, which coincided with the start of the school holidays, GPs ordered less than half of their allocated doses.
AstraZeneca France President Olivier Nataf told the weekly Journal du Dimanche over the weekend that his company’s vaccine was fully effective against serious COVID-19 infections and 80% effective in preventing hospitalizations.
“Confusion and disappointment can arise. Many are already resolved, ”he told the newspaper. “There may be others. But the enemy remains the pandemic. Any controversy diminishes our ability to overcome it. “
European regulators have concluded that the side effects caused by the AstraZenaca vaccine are no reason to doubt its safety. A study in Scotland covering 5.4 million people showed that it, and the Pfizer vaccine, were highly effective in preventing serious infections.
France, Germany and Italy have changed course and are now giving the vaccine to people over 65.
Macron said last month that the AstraZeneca jab was effective and he would accept it if offered.
‘SECOND RATE VACCINE’
But some doubts remain. Malika, a 54-year-old lady who works at a homeless clinic near Paris, said she refused the AstraZeneca vaccine when it was offered.
“I thought to myself, ‘I don’t see any point in being vaccinated with a second-rate vaccine,'” said Malika, who did not want his surname to be published.
She said she was determined when a colleague took the injection and felt the side effects. Malika said she wanted the Pfizer jab, currently reserved for people over 75.
Roger, the cancer survivor, said he lived alone, so he was concerned about having a fever, one of the possible side effects of the COVID-19 vaccines, and had doubts about the effectiveness of the AstraZeneca vaccine against new variants.
But the big drawback, she said, was that she would have to wait until she got a second injection of AstraZeneca in May to feel fully protected, a problem that would not arise with Johnson & Johnson’s unique vaccine.
She has been to Yemen, Mali and Madagascar, and the shelves in her home are decorated with artifacts she brought home. Since her cancer diagnosis, she said she realized she needed to make the most of her time and get back on the road.
“At the moment, AstraZeneca does not allow me to do that.”
(This story is corrected to make it clear that Macron initially described AstraZeneca as “almost ineffective” and not “almost effective”)
Reporting by Caroline Pailliez and Lea Guedj; Written by Christian Lowe and Richard Lough; Edition by Alex Richardson