(Reuters) – The rollout of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, the shot that much of the world is relying on to beat the pandemic, faced further complications on Thursday as India stopped exports of the vaccine and Europe its own export controls.
India has temporarily halted all major exports of the Anglo-Swedish company of the vaccine from the Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s largest vaccine producer, to meet domestic demand as infections increase, two sources said.
That could slow deliveries to dozens of low-income countries that also depend on SII production under the COVAX vaccination division program supported by the World Health Organization.
“We understand that the delivery of COVID-19 vaccines to lower-income economies participating in the COVAX facility is likely to experience delays …”, the program’s purchasing and distribution partner, UNICEF, told Reuters. .
India’s move comes as the European Union meets on Thursday to consider giving member states more options to block vaccines exported outside the bloc, many of which are struggling to reduce infections and ramp up immunization campaigns.
The proposal would apply to all vaccines, including those from AstraZeneca, which the EU originally expected to inoculate 70% of the adult population by this summer.
AstraZeneca’s vaccine is seen as crucial in tackling the pandemic because it is cheaper and easier to transport than many rival shots.
The EU has accused the drug maker of overselling its vaccine and unfairly favoring Britain, where AstraZeneca developed the shot with the University of Oxford – a charge the company has denied.
Brussels agreed with London this week to strive for a “win-win” solution, but even as the EU opposes export controls, it faces another problem: diminishing confidence in AstraZeneca’s shot due to concerns over side effects and efficacy data.
Denmark will suspend use of the vaccine for another three weeks pending further investigations into a possible link between the vaccine and blood clots, Danish broadcaster TV 2 reported Thursday, citing sources.
More than 10 other countries have also suspended the vaccine rollout due to similar issues, but most have since rebooted. The European Medicines Agency said last week it was safe and not linked to an increased overall risk of blood clots.
However, many Europeans remain wary.
A third of Danes would refuse the AstraZeneca vaccine, according to a study published by Danish media on Wednesday. Confidence has also taken a major hit in Spain, Germany, France and Italy.
AstraZeneca slightly reduced the vaccine’s efficacy to 76% in a new analysis of its US trial. Interim data published Monday had put the vaccine’s efficacy at 79% but did not cover more recent infections, leading to a highly unusual public rebuke from US health officials.
AstraZeneca, which is pending regulatory approval, also reiterated that the shot was 100% effective against severe or critical forms of COVID-19.
“The vaccine’s efficacy against serious diseases, including death, puts the AZ vaccine in the same range as the other vaccines,” said William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, adding that he expects the shot to get US approval. .
The vaccine has already obtained conditional marketing authorization or emergency use in more than 70 countries.
In Europe, leaders of France and Germany admitted on Thursday that the problem of the slow roll-out of vaccines within the EU went beyond the question of keeping exports under control.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said EU leaders would also discuss how to boost internal vaccine production.
“UK production sites produce for Britain and the United States don’t export, so we depend on what we can make in Europe,” she told German lawmakers.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the EU itself had to take the blame – that its vaccine plans lacked ambition.
“We didn’t shoot at the stars,” he told Greek television channel ERT. “That should be a lesson for all of us.”
Written by Mark Bendeich. Editing by Mark Potter