AstraZeneca’s Rocky Deployment: The Misery of “Vaccines for the World”

From the beginning, Oxford-AstraZeneca The COVID-19 vaccine was different.

Was so Non-profit collaboration It was held between a leading academic researcher in the UK and a major pharmaceutical company. It was not developed by a government that is used exclusively for the people of a country or for political whims. The company claimed it as a “world vaccine” and licensed it to other manufacturers around the world to expand production at one-tenth the cost of some rivals.and it is International Vaccine Sharing Initiative COVAX, Has become a major vaccine in low and middle income countries. AstraZeneca had an ambitious goal of administering 2 billion doses to people’s arms later this year.

But, like much during the coronavirus pandemic, the vaccine’s progress has never been smooth. Five months after its launch, after 400 million doses worldwide, this vaccine is one of the most controversial vaccines on the market. Just this week, Canada announced that it would almost completely stop using the vaccine. After stopping the first dose of AstraZeneca vaccine across the country in May, the government now has the option to switch to another brand for Canadians waiting for a second dose of AstraZeneca vaccine to end vaccination. Is provided.

The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine was first approved for use in the United Kingdom on December 30th.

The first jab was handed over to 82-year-old retired maintenance manager Brian Pinker at a hospital in Oxford, England, five days later.

“Vaccines mean everything to me,” Pinker said after receiving an injection in front of the media fingertips. “In my opinion, that’s the only way to get back to normal life a bit.”

But in the months that followed, a myriad of problems arose.

From time to time, Oxford AstraZeneca’s operations seem sloppy. During the clinical trial, some participants mistakenly received only half of the vaccine. This error was even more embarrassing for researchers, except that lower doses proved to work better than full doses.

In addition, the company is facing a lawsuit in the European Union over production delays. There were questions about the accuracy of some of the clinical trial data. Despite extensive testing in the United States, the coveted approval of US regulators has not yet been obtained. One factor could be that the urgency to obtain approval in the United States diminished when it became clear that the United States could adequately supply other vaccines.

And most importantly, the AstraZeneca vaccine Very rare but potentially deadly blood clotThe European Union temporarily stopped using it in March.

In some countries, including Norway, it has been completely discontinued. It is no longer available in all Canadian states. Nevertheless, the AstraZeneca vaccine continues to be the leading vaccine offered to many low- and middle-income countries through COVAX. However, people in those countries do not always accept it.

Like many small, non-wealthy countries in the world, Uganda’s main source of vaccines is the COVAX program run by the World Health Organization, the Coalition for Epidemic Infectious Diseases, and the vaccine alliance Gavi.

“We only rely on WHO to negotiate for us,” he said. Rose Waki ​​Kona, Lawyer of Health and Human Rights Development Center in Uganda. “And the best they could negotiate for us was AstraZeneca.”

Wakikona says there is recognition in her country that the only vaccine they have available is a secondary product.

“But what options do we have?” She asks. “Sincerity, what options do we have?”

Wakikona says he will probably be vaccinated with Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech if he can choose.

But she said, “No one offered us another option. We didn’t offer anything.”

When she says she feels that some people around the world are receiving secondary vaccinations, she makes sense. The AstraZeneca vaccine is less effective in preventing infections than the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines () However, it is very effective in preventing severe cases of COVID-19). The AstraZeneca vaccine is about 70% effective, while the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are about 95% effective.

Also, in limited studies, the AstraZeneca vaccine appears to have little function against some variants of the coronavirus.

But Adam FinnVaccines at the University of Bristol say concerns about AstraZeneca’s vaccine are exaggerated.

“This is a great vaccine,” says Finn about AstraZeneca’s shots. “We are now using it a lot in the UK. This is one of our two major vaccines. [national immunization] Program and Pfizer vaccine. And the results obtained using it are really impressive. “

Finn has advised both the UK Government and WHO on several vaccine trials. He states that the AstraZeneca vaccine helped contain the epidemic in the United Kingdom.

“I think it’s a really important part of trying to manage COVID around the world,” he adds.

The AstraZeneca vaccine continues to be one of the world’s leading vaccines in terms of the number of doses per day. However, its role, especially as the flagship product of the COVAX vaccine sharing program, is undermined by supply issues.

One of the main The supplier of the AstraZeneca vaccine was assumed to be the Indian Serum Institute, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer. When the crisis of coronavirus infection (COVID-19) exploded in India this spring Do not resume exports Probably until the end of the year to deal with the domestic Indian crisis.

Pascal Soriot, CEO of AstraZeneca, said:He was talking in may During the ongoing World Health Assembly, in a virtual forum hosted by Devex, a media platform for the global development community. Solio said the blockade of exports from India had a major impact on the global availability of AstraZeneca vaccines.

“There is a shortage of supplies to COVAX and other countries,” he said. “So what we’re trying to do is increase supply from elsewhere, but it’s very difficult because our supply chain is already very stretched.”

Vaccine production is complex and his company is currently incapable of setting up new manufacturing facilities, Soliot said. Even if the company does, it will take time to get those production lines up and running. “Today, people need vaccines,” Solio said. “And it creates a lot of challenges.”

Despite these challenges, and despite the shortage of production from some factories, AstraZeneca produces millions of vaccines daily from 20 other manufacturing sites around the world. I am. COVAX still expects the AstraZeneca vaccine to be the leading vaccine this year in low-income countries. Important supplies from other manufacturers, Pfizer, Moderna, etc. will not be delivered until late 2021 or 2022.

And this puts many countries at risk of outbreaks. For example, in Uganda, less than 2% of adults in 47 million countries receive even one COVID-19 vaccine.

Copyright NPR 2021.