(Reuters) – The launch of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, the vaccine that much of the world trusts to beat the pandemic, faced complications on Thursday when India suspended exports of the vaccine and Europe discussed its own controls on export.
India has temporarily suspended all major vaccine exports from the Anglo-Swedish company of the Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, to meet domestic demand with rising infections, two sources said.
This could delay delivery to dozens of low-income countries that also depend on the production of IBS under the COVAX vaccine sharing scheme supported by the World Health Organization.
“We understand that deliveries of COVID-19 vaccines to low-income economies participating in the COVAX facility are likely to experience delays …” the program’s acquisition and distribution partner, UNICEF, told Reuters.
India’s decision comes as the European Union meets on Thursday to consider giving member states more space to block vaccines being exported outside the bloc, many of which are struggling to reduce infections and increase immunization campaigns.
The proposal would apply to all vaccines, including AstraZeneca, which the EU originally counted on to meet its goal of inoculating 70% of its adult population by the summer.
The AstraZeneca vaccine is considered crucial in combating the pandemic, as it is cheaper and easier to transport than many rival vaccines.
The EU accuses the drugmaker of selling its vaccine in excess and unfairly favoring Britain, where AstraZeneca developed the vaccine with the University of Oxford – a charge the company denied.
Brussels agreed with London this week to strive for a win-win solution, but even if the EU resists export controls, it faces another problem: declining confidence in the AstraZeneca injection due to concerns about side effects and data of effectiveness.
Denmark will suspend the use of the vaccine for another three weeks, pending further investigations into a possible link between the vaccine and blood clots, Danish broadcaster TV 2 said on Thursday, citing sources.
More than 10 other nations have also suspended the vaccine launch due to similar concerns, but most have already restarted. The European Medicines Agency said last week that it is safe and is not related to an increase in the overall risk of blood clots.
However, many Europeans remain cautious.
A third of Danes would refuse the AstraZeneca vaccine, according to a survey published by Danish media on Wednesday. Trust also suffered a major blow in Spain, Germany, France and Italy.
AstraZeneca slightly revised the vaccine’s effectiveness down to 76% in a new analysis of its trial in the United States. Interim data published on Monday put the vaccine’s effectiveness rate at 79%, but did not include more recent infections, leading to a highly unusual public rebuke from US health officials.
AstraZeneca, which is awaiting US regulatory approval, also reiterated that the injection was 100% effective against severe or critical forms of COVID-19.
“The effectiveness of the vaccine against serious illnesses, including death, puts the AZ vaccine in the same estimation as other vaccines,” said William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, adding that he hopes the injection will get the US approval.
The vaccine has already received conditional marketing authorization or emergency use in more than 70 countries.
In Europe, the leaders of France and Germany admitted on Thursday that the problem of the slow launch of vaccines in the EU goes beyond the issue of controlling exports.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said EU leaders would also discuss how to increase domestic vaccine production.
“British production units manufacture to Britain and the United States does not export, so we have what we can do in Europe,” she told German lawmakers.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the EU itself should take part in the blame – that its vaccine plans lacked ambition.
“We don’t aim for the stars,” he told the Greek television channel ERT. “This should be a lesson for all of us.”
Written by Mark Bendeich. Editing by Mark Potter