Source: BBC
The EU’s drugs regulator has approved the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine for all adults.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said the AstraZeneca vaccine was about 60% effective in the trials on which it based its decision.
The move comes amid a dispute over whether AstraZeneca is breaking its vaccine delivery commitments to the EU.
The European Commission has published its contract with the Anglo-Swedish drug-maker, hoping to show a breach.
The bloc agreed to buy up to 400 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine last year.
In a press conference later on Friday, Astra-Zeneca chief executive Pascal Soriot conceded that it had “teething issues” in the yield of vaccine at some production sites.
“We’re talking about biology manufacturing here,” he said, adding – “it’s not like doing an orange juice.”
Mr Soriot said AstraZeneca had millions of doses ready to ship to the EU, and was working 24/7 to increase capacity.
Categories: Vaccine
Few people care who made their flu shot or their childhood immunizations against a range of deadly diseases. Covid changed that, turning vaccine makers into household names and prompting calls for choice.
Doses remain scarce for now, amid a global scramble inflamed by a dispute between the European Union and British drugmaker AstraZeneca Plc. Most of the more than 90 million people who’ve gotten a shot consider themselves lucky for any protection against the pandemic. But vaccines are proliferating, with positive trial data from Johnson & Johnson and Novavax Inc. placing their candidates next in line for approval.
Health officials will have to figure out how to allocate all these different vaccines. The European Medicines Agency approved the AstraZeneca vaccine on Friday for all adults, but limited trial data on its effectiveness in the elderly has led some countries to impose restrictions. Germany said it should be used only for those under 65, while Italy cautioned against administering it to those over 55.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-31/pfizer-or-sputnik-race-to-inject-prompts-calls-for-choice?srnd=premium&sref=eGA8az79