By Caroline Pailliez and Johan Ahlander
PARIS (Reuters) – Health officials in some European countries are facing resistance to AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine after side effects prompted hospital staff and other front-line workers to call to warn that they were sick, overwhelming services overloaded.
These symptoms, as reported in clinical trials for the AstraZeneca injection, can include a high temperature or headache and are a normal sign that the body is generating an immune response. They usually disappear in a day or two.
The other injections approved in Europe, developed by Pfizer and Moderna, have been associated with similar temporary side effects, including fever and fatigue.
But with the AstraZeneca vaccine to be launched later, French health authorities issued guidelines to spread the vaccine, two regions in Sweden have stopped vaccination and in Germany some essential workers are refusing.
An AstraZeneca spokesman said: “Currently, the reactions reported are the ones we expected based on the evidence collected in our clinical testing program.”
People receiving the vaccine are closely monitored through routine pharmacovigilance activities, said the Anglo-Swedish pharmacist, adding that she continues to monitor the situation closely.
“There were no confirmed serious adverse events,” said the spokesman.
‘MORE SIDE EFFECTS’
In France, which began administering the AstraZeneca vaccine on February 6, staff at a hospital in Normandy experienced stronger side effects than those seen with the alternative vaccine from Pfizer and the German partner BioNTech.
“AstraZeneca caused more side effects than the Pfizer vaccine,” said Melanie Cotigny, communications manager at Saint-Lo hospital in Normandy.
“Between 10% and 15% of those vaccinated can have side effects from this vaccination, but it is just a feverish state, fevers, nausea and in 12 hours it passes”.
Following similar reports from other hospitals, the French drug safety agency said on February 11 that such side effects were “known and described”, but should be subjected to surveillance for their intensity.
He also issued guidelines to schedule vaccinations for frontline personnel working in teams to minimize the risk of disruption to operations.
The agency released the advice after receiving 149 alerts of frequently strong side effects, such as flu, from the AstraZeneca vaccine. During this period, a total of 10,000 people were shot across the country.
Some US hospitals and other front-line organizations adopted a similar strategy when the country’s vaccination program started in December. The United States is administering injections from Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna.
In Britain, home to the AstraZeneca vaccine developed at Oxford University, the policy has been to make vaccines readily available to hospital staff. Like so many work shifts, this naturally distances the process
The issues in France highlight how some doctors and hospitals are still learning how to administer vaccines as governments rush to tame the pandemic and receive vaccines as quickly as possible.
It is also the latest setback for the French vaccination campaign, which has been criticized for a slow start. Last week, the government said that just over 3% of the population received their first dose.
In Sweden, two of the 21 health regions stopped vaccinating workers last week after a quarter became ill after receiving the AstraZeneca injection.
The regions of Sormland and Gavleborg said that about 100 out of 400 vaccinated people reported fever or fever-like symptoms. Most of the cases were mild and in accordance with the side effects previously reported.
Both regions said they would resume vaccinations, and the Swedish Medical Products Agency saw no reason to change its vaccination guidelines.
NO PRESENTATIONS
AstraZeneca’s vector vaccine is the third to obtain regulatory approval in the European Union.
As part of the positive recommendation from the European Medicines Agency on 29 January, the watchdog concluded that it was about 60% effective, compared to more than 90% for Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.
It also considered the product safe to use and will monitor reports of side effects as a matter of routine.
In Germany, Health Minister Jens Spahn responded on Wednesday to reports that key workers were reluctant to receive the AstraZeneca injection after some strong side effects, saying it was safe and effective.
“I would be vaccinated with it immediately,” Spahn told reporters.
Like most European countries, German states do not normally offer people the choice of vaccine they will receive, in some cases leading people who do not attend consultations to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Germany received 737,000 doses of AstraZeneca, but administered only 107,000, according to data from the Ministry of Health and the Robert Koch Institute, which leads the pandemic response.
“This vaccine is an excellent way to prevent serious COVID disease,” said the health ministry in eastern Saxony. “Even so, we noticed that there are still vague vaccination dates for AstraZeneca.
“From our point of view, it is wrong for this vaccine to be available, but not being used,” he said, adding that he was relocating extra vaccines to teachers and public health officials.
(Caroline Pailliez reported from Paris, Johan Ahlander from Stockholm; additional reporting by Caroline Copley in Berlin, Ludwig Burger in Frankfurt, Richard Lough in Paris and Paul Sandle in London; Writing by Douglas Busvine; Editing by Josephine Mason and Nick Macfie)