Healthcare workers’ unions in Europe say thousands of their members refuse to take one of the three Covid-19 vaccines available in the region because of concerns about effectiveness and reports of side effects, the latest setback for the slow release of the vaccine on the continent.
Organizations representing healthcare professionals across Europe said this week that doctors and nurses should not be forced to take the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca PLC because it has been shown to offer less robust protection against Covid-19 than the other two currently authorized in the European Union. . They also expressed concern about reports that the AstraZeneca vaccine appeared to cause stronger reactions in recipients.
Hospitals said hundreds of health workers scheduled to receive the vaccines had not come to the appointments in the past few days, while many of those who received the vaccine called saying they were sick after reporting painful headaches, fever and other symptoms.
Politicians and scientists this week insisted that the AstraZeneca injection proved to work safely and that not using it would undermine the fight against the pandemic in Europe. The vaccine showed about 62% effectiveness in results from final-stage clinical trials reported last year. Other data suggested that the overall efficacy was around 70%, if the doses were spaced out longer. This compared to more than 90% effectiveness in competing vaccine trials. However, tests of all authorized vaccines, including those from AstraZeneca, found that they offered 100% protection against serious illness, hospitalization and death.
A spokesman for AstraZeneca, which developed its vaccine with the University of Oxford, said: “Our vaccine has been authorized in more than 50 countries on four continents. There were no confirmed serious adverse events associated with vaccination, ”said the spokesman.