LONDON – Trust in AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine in many European countries has plunged following controversy surrounding the jab in recent weeks, according to a new survey unveiled today by British pollster YouGov.
A majority of people in the biggest European Union member states, including Germany, France, Spain and Italy, now see the inoculation as unsafe, the poll found.
However, views on the Anglo-Swedish pharma giant’s jab remain overwhelmingly positive in Britain, where two-thirds of respondents said it is safe, compared to just 9% believing it is not.
The findings come at a tumultuous time for the AstraZeneca vaccine and the EU’s troubled inoculation campaign, as a third virus wave in the continent prompts renewed social restrictions.
Meanwhile, Britain and the bloc are embroiled in an increasingly acrimonious war of words over supplies, with Brussels warning that it may halt AstraZeneca vaccine exports.
The drop in Europeans’ faith in the jab, developed in partnership with Oxford University in the United Kingdom, follows weeks of turmoil over safety fears.
Earlier this month, several EU countries suspended its use, pending a review by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) after dozens of isolated cases of blood clots and brain haemorrhages.
EMA last week declared the AstraZeneca jab “safe and effective”, with the World Health Organisation and Britain’s drugs watchdog issuing similar endorsements.
It led European countries to resume administering the vaccine, but not before severely damaging confidence in it.
‘Undoubtedly suffered’
In its mid-March survey, YouGov found that 55% of Germans believe the vaccine to be unsafe – a 15-point rise in a month – compared to 32% viewing it as safe.
In already more vaccine-hesitant France, 61% of respondents said it is unsafe, while Italy and Spain both saw a 27-point monthly jump in the number of people saying they do not trust the jab.
No similar increases in safety fears were recorded for vaccines produced by Pfizer and Moderna, said YouGov.
The pollster interviewed 2,024 Germans, and around 1,000 adults in each of the other countries, between March 12 and 18.
“After concerns about its protection and potency were raised by leaders across Europe, the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has undoubtedly suffered damage to its reputation for safety in the continent,” said Matt Smith, lead data journalist at YouGov.
“With a third wave of infections potentially emerging across the Channel, officials everywhere will be worried if ongoing rows about AstraZeneca’s vaccine end up damaging the roll-out.”
Even prior to its recent woes in Europe, the jab – which is among the cheapest available, relatively easy to store, and billed as the vaccine of choice for poorer nations – had suffered several setbacks.
They include South Africa asking to send back a million doses after researchers found that the vaccine failed to prevent mild and moderate cases of a more contagious virus variant there.
Confidence in the vaccine has also been hit by mixed messaging.
French President Emmanuel Macron at end-January said the jab is “quasi-ineffective for people over 65”, despite EMA approving its use for all ages. – AFP, March 22, 2021
