Quote:
Originally Posted by jfman
But what is the benefit in continuing to issue it for the EU?
AZ in the EU are miles behind in terms of deliveries and the bloc are months away from being in a position to meaningfully ease restrictions.
Right now the biggest (only?) real weapon in their arsenal is lockdown and other non-pharmaceutical interventions. A delay in issuing the AZ vaccine of a week to two weeks is neither here nor their for the vaccination programme as a whole.
The UK regulator isn't in the same boat, it's weighing up the ongoing availability of a large number of doses with inadequate contracts to meaningfully continue the vaccination programme as a whole. We'd be doing about 25% of the vaccinations throughout April if we were relying on Pfizer only. That puts the UK back months, hence the "it's safer to use it than not" is closer to black vs white.
|
None of that is within the remit of the national medicines regulators in any of the countries where decisions have been taken to pause rollout.
Unless you're suggesting that politicians in those countries are implementing decisions, and then using their regulators as cover to give an entirely different set of justifications? The regulators are not (or should not be) concerned with supply levels or other infection control measures. They should be concerned only with safety and efficacy.
Incidentally the EMA has also concluded its own review of the data, and states that the Ox-AZ vaccine is 'safe and effective.'
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-56440139