This is not only because developed countries, such as those in Western Europe, had bought a large number of AstraZeneca doses to get out of the pandemic, but mainly because so many developing countries relied on this one vaccine. do the same.
The double whammy is that a picture is emerging that the AstraZeneca vaccine – which appears to have caused a very rare, sometimes fatal, condition of severe clotting with a low platelet count – affects younger adults more than the elderly. Developing countries generally have a significantly younger population than their wealthier counterparts.
A link between the rare blood clots and J & J’s vaccine has not been officially confirmed, but US officials want to pause it and use alternative injections while they work out if there is indeed a link, and if so, how often this may occur. Europe is waiting to see what an investigation finds.
Many developing countries have to wait longer than richer countries to receive these vaccines. In earlier stages of their development, mRNA vaccines had to be stored at such low temperatures that most developing countries could not use them without purchasing new, expensive equipment to store them. Those requirements are improving – the Pfizer vaccine can now be stored at normal freezing temperatures during shipping – but the storage challenge months ago meant that most developing countries focused on shots like AstraZeneca and J&J when making purchase deals with pharmaceutical companies.
Dr. Peter Drobac, director of the Skoll Center for Social Entrepreneurship at Oxford Said Business School, said that despite the rarity of the blood clots in both AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, any adverse effects can exacerbate vaccine hesitancy and even misinformation .
“It could fuel conspiracy theories around the world about a two-tier society. If rich countries say they will only have ‘gold standard’ with the most expensive vaccines, and then say AstraZeneca isn’t good enough for us in the north of the world.” , “But it’s good enough for the South of the world, it could reduce vaccine uptake and hinder attempts to vaccinate the world,” he told CNN.
“For the Covid-19 vaccines, the benefits outweigh the potential side effects,” Benjamin Djoudalbaye, the head of Policy, Health Diplomacy and Communication at Africa CDC, told CNN Monday.
But the picture is more nuanced than that. The UK has data suggesting that while the benefits outweigh the risks in general, they don’t necessarily do so for every age group in all circumstances.
Last week, the drug regulatory agency advised people under 30 to offer alternative vaccines, arguing that people in that age group are more likely to be seriously harmed by the AstraZeneca vaccine than they are unlikely to get very seriously ill . That’s only in a situation where exposure to the virus is low. Any return to “normal” increases exposure. Other European countries and Australia have limited the use of the vaccine in older age groups.
So far, COVAX has delivered 17.4 million Covid-19 vaccines to 36 African countries, including more than 17 million AstraZeneca injections manufactured by the Serum Institute of India and about 200,000 Pfizer vaccine doses, according to figures released Wednesday by WHO. officials have been sent to CNN. .
The magnitude of the risk of these rare blood clot events following vaccination with AstraZeneca and possibly J&J vaccines is still unclear, but confirming that younger people will experience them more often means that developing countries and its younger populations will. are more vulnerable to clots, even if they are less vulnerable to Covid-19 in the beginning.
Meanwhile, countries like the United States and the United Kingdom are continuing their vaccination programs and sharing very few doses with other countries in need.
The US has shared a small number of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which has not yet been approved there, with neighboring countries Mexico and Canada, but says it will not share more widely until its own supplies are secure. A Duke University report on Thursday estimated that the US could have 300 million excess doses by the end of July.
A Nigerian physician and public health adviser, Kingsley Douglas, said the “protectionist” tendencies of the developed world are counteracting a positive global outcome.
“Western countries pay attention to their citizens first before looking elsewhere. I don’t begrudge them because they are protectionist in their approach,” Douglas told CNN. “Nevertheless, it is in everyone’s interest that the critical mass of the world’s population is vaccinated and protected from Covid. Vaccines must be distributed uniformly and fairly.”
A top Chinese health official admitted last weekend that the Chinese vaccines were not very effective and that Beijing was considering purchasing the new types of vaccines based on the mRNA technology – such as the Pfizer and Moderna shots – an analysis he was forced after his comments were widely shared on social media and international news sites.
Samuel Matsikure, a resident of the Zimbabwean capital Harare, said he has heard many young people express skepticism about the vaccines made in China.
“Many citizens are afraid of getting vaccinated,” he told CNN. “They don’t trust the vaccine from China – in part because they consider its efficacy low – and it’s not as popular as other vaccines. So you notice that the young and able-bodied are not vaccinated as often as the elderly,” Matsikure said.
Matsikure hopes Zimbabwe will purchase more vaccines so that some of the country’s tight coronavirus-related restrictions can be relaxed.
“Many Zimbabweans have suffered economically from Covid lockdowns. The majority of Zimbabweans are in the informal sector… they depend on selling their products on the street or designated outlets. But these were all closed during the lockdowns. … crying for food support and unable to pay their rent, ”Matsikure told CNN.
For example, Brazil has already received more than 1 million AstraZeneca doses through COVAX, and as cases there increase, it does not seem to be evolving into limited use.
“The blood clots are a cause for concern,” said Sergio Litewka of the Ethics Programs at the University of Miami, who focuses his research on Latin America. “But I don’t think the rate of blood clots justifies the suspension of the vaccine.”
He said countries in Latin America simply don’t have enough other options to drop injections, such as AstraZeneca and J&J, and believes the hesitancy to get vaccines in the region could increase as a result.
“Denmark has said no to AstraZeneca and there are other countries studying what they are going to do and it is the same with Johnson & Johnson,” he said. “But in Latin America, people have very few options. Some say I’d rather take the risk, but some are more reluctant.”
CNN’s Christopher Johnson contributed to this report.