*Regulators believe the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine is safe and effective, but they are leaving it up to individual countries of the world to make their own decisions

*Better AstraZeneca than nothing鈥� in an under-vaccinated country, I think you have no choice but to take it 鈹�Michael Kinch, a drug development expert and Associate Vice-Chancellor at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri

Gbenga Kayode | 绿帽献妻

The initial research, production, and subsequent approval of the AstraZeneca Plc鈥檚 COVID-19 Vaccine by regulatory authorities for emergency use to immunise billions of the world populations against the novel Coronavirus pandemic have been welcomed as a marked feat in the ongoing global efforts at combating the fatal disease.

绿帽献妻 had reported that the Oxford-AstraZeneca Vaccine shots, among a considerable number of other vaccine candidates, have been reputed in several economies as 鈥渁 cheaper and easier-to-deploy product that many countries are strongly counting on in a bid to end the raging pandemic among their populations.

AstraZeneca Office in the US

However, recent studies by regulatory authorities, especially in the United Kingdom (UK) and European Union (EU) have found a possible link between clots and the vaccine brand.

Although reports have indicated that several countries yet have stuck with AstraZeneca plans despite new warnings about blood clot issues, there are growing worries that the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine causing rare blood clots could hinder inoculation campaigns across the world, from London, Seoul, South Africa, Nigeria, Brazil, United States and Canada in North America.

According to the recent reviews by UK and EU, the regulators discovered potential links to the unusual side effects are another blow for the vaccine shots.

It was gathered that safety concerns following increasing reports of blood clots in people who received the vaccination in certain countries could shake confidence in AstraZeneca Vaccine shots.

Nonetheless, the regulators were reported to have agreed that the benefits of getting vaccinated with the vaccine jabs outweigh the risks after all.

Perhaps as a result of the said concerns about blood clot cases regarding the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine, several regions of the global community are turning their attention to alternative vaccines from Johnson & Johnson and developers in China, Russia and elsewhere.

But then, such attempts are being met with a fresh challenge, as they are in a difficult position with demand for doses far outstripping supply in recent times, agency report said.

鈥楤etter Astra than nothing,鈥� says drug development expert and Associate Vice-Chancellor

In view of the status quo in connection with getting as many millions of people vaccinated against the extant COVID-19 pandemic as soon as possible for people to resume 鈥榯he normal鈥�, Michael Kinch, a drug development expert and Associate Vice-Chancellor at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, in the US, said: 鈥淏etter Astra than nothing. 鈥淚n an under-vaccinated country, I think you have no choice but to take it.鈥�

Scrutiny of the vaccine, developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, in the UK, has been particularly intense in Europe, where skepticism about the shots was apparently already running high in places such as France and Poland.

The UK Wednesday, April 7, 2021, for instance, recommended that people under the age of 30 should be offered alternatives to AstraZeneca鈥檚 Vaccine, and countries across the EU have also imposed age restrictions as well.

Likewise, there are reports that governments and regulators elsewhere around the world are watching closely, too, and in some cases taking action.

According to Airfinity Limited, a London-based research firm, there鈥檚 a lot at stake, with AstraZeneca鈥檚 shots accounting for almost a quarter of the total supply deals signed for deployment to several countries in 2021.

Long before the results of the latest reviews in Europe, South Korea also was reported to have moved to temporarily suspend AstraZeneca vaccinations for people under 60.

Meanwhile, authorities in Canada are reviewing the new guidance, as well as information submitted by AstraZeneca, so as to determine further steps later, according to the country鈥檚 Federal Health Ministry Spokesperson Anna Maddison in an e-mail information.

Canada had suspended plans in late March to give the vaccine to people below the age of 55, citing blood clot concerns, report noted.

In spite of this development, regulators still believe the AstraZeneca Vaccine is safe and effective and are leaving it up to individual countries to make their own decisions, according to Anthony Harnden, Deputy Chair of the UK鈥檚 Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.

There aren鈥檛 a lot of options for many countries, and 鈥渢his is important for the whole world,鈥� Harnden said.

COVID-19 vaccination reports in some African countries

Several African countries, such as Namibia, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Senegal have all said that they will go ahead with vaccination plans to administer the AstraZeneca Vaccine doses as they arrive, at least referencing comments backing the vaccine brand from WHO and other regulators.

Mr. Boss Mustapha, Chairman of Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19, takes delivery of 100,000 additional AstraZeneca Vaccine doses from a Representative of the Indian Government April 6, in ABuja, FCT

Nonetheless, it should be noted that Cameroon and South Africa had previously stopped AstraZeneca inoculations.

绿帽献妻 had reported besides the initial 3.92million doses the country earlier received via the COVAX facility, Nigeria has received 300,000 additional doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine shots.

Mr. Boss Mustapha, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Chairman of former Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, now known as the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) on COVID-19 effective from April 1, 2021, disclosed the development at the media briefing of the Task Force March in Abuja, FCT.

The Chairman of PSC on COVID-19, who stated that MTN Communications, a telecommunications giant, donated the vaccines to the Federal Government, called on other partners to contribute to the fight against COVID-19 in Nigeria.

It is recalled that the first batch of 3,924,000 doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 Vaccine arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, March 2 via an Emirates Airlines airplane from India.

Similarly, as a means of boosting the number of Nigerians to be vaccinated against the COVID-19 pandemic, the Federal Government also got 100,000 additional doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Vaccine through a Representative of the Indian Government Tuesday, April 6, in Abuja, FCT.

Mr. Mustapha, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Chairman of PSC on COVID-19, also announced the development at a media briefing Tuesday, April 6 in Abuja.

According to Mustapha, the additional vaccine doses which the Indian Government donated to the country, would help to boost the number of Nigerians to be vaccinated by about 50,000.

As far as Namibia is concerned in relation to vaccination of its citizenry with AstraZeneca Vaccine, the country鈥檚 Health Minister Kalumbi Shangula said: 鈥淔or Namibia this changes nothing.

鈥淚t has not been conclusively demonstrated in clinical settings. We still plan to administer the vaccine when we get it.鈥�

COVAX Facility for global access, vaccine equity and AstraZeneca鈥檚 blood clot concerns

绿帽献妻 reports COVAX, an initiative designed to level global access that is backed by groups, including the World Health Organisation (WHO), is highly reliant on the AstraZeneca Vaccine because vaccine shots from Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc. are more expensive and harder to store.

The WHO vaccine initiative has disclosed that the roll out of COVID-19 Vaccine shots had reached over 100 countries in the week.

This development is considered a significant increase from earlier 84 countries, with a shortage of supplies as the limiting factor.

Seth Berkley, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Gavi Alliance, a public-private partnership that works to provide vaccines for developing countries, had told CBS News鈥� 鈥淔ace the Nation鈥� from Geneva, in Switzerland, recently that 鈥渋f we had more doses, we could make these available.鈥�

Berkley, who is said Berkley, an epidemiologist, stated: 鈥淲hat we鈥檙e talking about now is ultimately getting access to the large manufacturing facilities.鈥�

The Covax Chief said that once the United States (US) needs are met later this year, for example, those plants 鈥渞eally could be used to come online for the rest of the world.鈥�

According to the global health body, countries such as the US, UK and Israel, and the developed world in general, have marched ahead with their vaccination programmes since the first shots were approved late 2020.

Nonetheless, on the other end of the scale, over 30 countries have yet to start, or have barely commenced vaccinations, including many parts of Africa, according to the WHO.

鈥淭he big challenge here is the inequity that we talk about between developed countries and developing countries,鈥� said Berkley.

He noted: 鈥淲e are only safe if everybody is safe, and nothing tells us this like the new variants, because if we have large populations that are not vaccinated, then there is the risk that we will see new variants pop out and they will continue to spread across the world.鈥�

Berkley added that Covax, as the largest global vaccination programme in history, has placed orders for more than two billion shots, but most will come in the second half of the year.

The Covax CEO tied the delay to 鈥渧accine nationalism鈥� that鈥檚 meant there are less doses available.

In fulfillment of its earlier pledge to ensure enhanced production and distribution of more COVID-19 vaccines for immunisation against the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic especially in the developing and poorer countries of the world, the COVAX Facility during the week disclosed that it had delivered life-saving vaccines to over 100 economies.

The COVAX Vaccine Alliance has made its first international delivery to Ghana, a West African country February 24, 2021.

Over 38 million doses of the virus vaccines from manufacturers AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech, and Serum Institute of India (SII) have now been delivered, including 61 economies eligible for vaccines through the Gavi COVAX Advance Market Commitment, report said.

The vaccine initiative maintains that it aims to supply vaccines to all participating economies that have requested vaccines, in the first half of 2021, despite some delays in planned deliveries for March and April in the year.

Going forward

The UK鈥檚 move to avoid giving the shots to young adults is said to have followed an evaluation by the country鈥檚 Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, that evidence of a link between the vaccine and the sometimes deadly clots is 鈥渟tronger, but more work is still needed.鈥�

AstraZeneca Plc as well said in a statement that it is studying the individual cases to understand the 鈥渆pidemiology and possible mechanisms that could explain these extremely rare events.鈥�

The vaccine manufacturer noted that it is also working with regulators on their request for new labels on its shots.

Meanwhile, UK health officials have described the clotting syndrome involving the AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine shots as similar to a rare side effect of treatment with heparin, an anticoagulant, in which the body forms antibodies against blood platelets.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) also disclosed that unusual blood clots with low platelets should be listed as 鈥榲ery rare side effects鈥�, although the regulator did not issue any guidelines on age, report noted.

As of now, how or why the COVID-19 Vaccine brand might be involved in such a process is still under investigation by regulators and health experts.

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