Tag: AstraZeneca

Categories : COVIDTags :

EU to Restrict AstraZeneca Exports to Tackle Vaccine Shortage

On By ModernMedia

In response to AstraZeneca’s COVID vaccine production and delays, the European Union has warned that it will tighten exports of the company’s vaccine to countries outside its borders.

EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides warned it would “take any action required to protect its citizens”, adding that she had requested detailed delivery schedules and a meeting next week with the company. She added that “in the future, all companies producing vaccines against Covid-19 in the EU will have to provide early notification whenever they want to export vaccines to third countries”.

The vaccine, developed by Oxford University and the British-Swedish company AstraZeneca, is still yet to be approved in the EU but should receive it by the end of January, with distribution set to start on the 15th of February. The EU has been suffering from a number of vaccination programme setbacks, including a previous announcement last week from Pfizer that its own deliveries were being delayed in order to upgrade manufacturing capabilities at a plant in Belgium, provoking ire amongst EU politicians. Italy’s PM has resigned over handling of the pandemic.

The EU had signed a deal in August to secure 300 million doses from AstraZeneca, with an option for another 100 million. Last week, AstraZeneca had announced a slowdown in delivery due to “reduced yields at a manufacturing site within our European supply chain”. The problem is thought to be from a manufacturing plant also in Belgium, which is run by an AstraZeneca partner firm. The exact size of the shortfall is not known but some believe it to be a drop of 31 million doses, or 60% of those meant to be delivered by the end of the quarter.

Where this leaves low and middle-income countries counting on the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines is unclear, but it certainly will add to mounting tension between countries seeking vaccines for their populations amidst the spread of more contagious COVID variants. President Cyril Ramaphosa warned in an address to the World Economic Forum that vaccine nationalism was a growing concern and threat to global recovery. The African Union’s vaccine task team has thus far managed to secure only 270 million doses.

Source: BBC News

Categories : COVID VaccinesTags :

Questions Raised over Oxford’s Unusual Vaccine Regimen

On By ModernMedia

The recent announcement of the Oxford’s and AstraZeneca’s vaccine trial being 70% effective up to 90% effective has raised some pointed questions.

The trial had two treatment arms, one receiving two full doses of the AZD1222 vaccine and a half dose plus a full dose, with the doses being administered 28 days apart. The “half dose then full dose”  treatment arm reported the 90% protection. The problem was that the trial was never meant to have such an arm. 

It was noticed that some participants were only receiving a half dose because they were experiencing fewer effects than expected such as arm pain and headache. This was subsequently corrected so that they would still receive the full dose on the second administration.

Of particular concern is that the “90% effectiveness” is based on a much smaller subset of the trial participants, with a correspondingly higher statistical uncertainty. So much so that there is statistical overlap with their lower effectiveness of 62% quoted for the two full doses. Furthermore, the participants were from the initial stages of the vaccine trial, where they were aged 18-55 and therefore have little applicability to the results of the main trial which included older age groups as well. 

The details of exactly why the half-measure doses came to be administered in the first place have not been revealed by Oxford or AstraZeneca. Meanwhile in the US, a Phase III of the trial is being rolled out with 40 000 participants, and the “half dose then full dose” regimen may be included – however, uncertainty about it and whether it isn’t a statistical fluke will have to be cleared up first.

Source: Ars Technica