Corona vaccine not effective in seniors? Astrazeneca is fighting back resolutely

There is a lack of corona vaccine in Germany and Europe.

An export control is now being considered.

Is there another setback now?

• An announcement by the Swedish-British manufacturer

  Astrazeneca is

  causing a stir.

• The EU now wants to introduce

  export controls

  for Corona * vaccines.

• In Germany it was feared that the Astrazeneca substance could only receive a limited approval, but now the pharmaceutical manufacturer has expressed itself.

  (see update from January 26th, 9:30 a.m.).

Update from January 26th, 9.30 a.m.:

This news hit the headlines on Monday evening: Does the

vaccine from

the British

pharmaceutical manufacturer Astrazeneca

not work well enough for seniors of all people?

As the media reported, the government is said to have even feared restricted approval in Germany.

Now the British pharmaceutical manufacturer Astrazeneca is fighting against reports that its

corona vaccine is

poorly protective

in seniors.

Reports that the remedy only has an effectiveness of 8 percent in people over 65 are "completely wrong," said a spokesman on Tuesday morning.

The

Handelsblatt

had previously

reported on the low level of protection for older people and referred to German coalition groups.

The

picture also

reported on it.

Astrazeneca pointed out, among other things, that the

emergency

approval from

the British

Medicines Agency

(MHRA) includes the elderly.

A vaccination advisory committee also supported the use of the vaccine among seniors.

In addition, a study published in the “Lancet” journal in November showed that the vaccine also

triggers

a strong

immune response

in seniors

.

However, a later “Lancet” publication also states that, due to the low number of cases in the crucial clinical study, there is still little data on the effectiveness in older people.

Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU)

does not want to participate in speculations about an allegedly poorer effectiveness of the vaccine in over 65-year-olds.

He wanted to wait until the data from the studies had been evaluated.

"I think little of doing this speculatively in headlines," said Spahn on Tuesday in the ZDF "Morgenmagazin".

He said a decision will be made next week on the basis of the scientific findings “which age groups will be vaccinated with this vaccine first”.

Astrazeneca's vaccine was expected to be approved in the EU on Friday and is already in widespread use in the UK.

Corona vaccine: next Astrazeneca low blow with bitter consequences?

Government probably fears restricted admission

Update January 25, 20:53:

It could be the next low blow in terms of

Corona

-

vaccine

be.

According to a report by

Bild

, the federal government expects that the product from the Swedish-British manufacturer

Astrazeneca will

only receive EU approval for under 65-year-olds.

This means that people over 65 should not be vaccinated with the vaccine, which is due to be approved this week.

The reason for the denial of general approval is therefore the low effectiveness in over 65-year-olds.

Here, the agent should only be effective to a maximum of ten percent.

The Handelsblatt confirms this report, also citing coalition groups.

Here it says that the Astrazeneca vaccine is only eight percent effective in people over 65.

This has further major consequences for the German vaccination plan *.

According to

Bild

, the new vaccine was planned for older people who can no longer visit a vaccination center, as it can be stored much more easily than other means.

The report says that the Moderna vaccine is now being used here.

However, the Moderna cans used would then be missing elsewhere.

Meanwhile, the federal government warned of a "dark cloud"

Corona vaccine: delivery cancellation "not acceptable" - EU expresses bad suspicion - Spahn wants export restriction

First report from January 25th:

Brussels - The debate about the

corona vaccines * continues to make

waves.

The Swedish-British manufacturer

Astrazeneca

reported on Friday that after approval of its product, far fewer doses would initially be delivered to the EU than previously agreed.

The EU Commission called this "unacceptable" on Monday.

Corona vaccine: fuss about delivery bottlenecks - EU wants to take explosive step

There is a suspicion that manufacturers are supplying vaccination doses to non-EU countries - at the expense of the EU, as the supply contracts with Europe would therefore not be kept.

The Commission therefore wants to react now:

vaccine exports from the EU should in future have to be recorded and approved.

The EU Commission proposed a so-called

transparency register

for this on Monday

.

At the same time, the Brussels authorities

put pressure

on

Astrazeneca

to deliver promised vaccine quantities without compromises and without delay - but initially without success.

Corona vaccine: EU pre-financed funds - and is now not supplied

The company's answers have not yet been satisfactory, said EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides on Monday evening after an internal meeting with the EU countries and

Astrazeneca

.

Therefore, another meeting was scheduled for the evening.

The

EU

wants the ordered and pre-financed vaccine doses to be delivered as soon as possible.

“We want our contract to be fully fulfilled,” said Kyriakides.

The EU Commission had agreed with the company in August to deliver up to 400 million vaccine doses.

According to its own information, the authority paid a three-digit million amount to ramp up production before EU approval.

According to the EU Commission, the group should have been stockpiling quantities for the EU since October.

Corona vaccine: Astrazeneca delivers significantly less than agreed

However, Astrazeneca said on Friday that after the approval expected for this week, less vaccine than agreed would be delivered to the EU.

Instead of 80 million vaccine doses, according to the EU, there should be only 31 million by the end of March.

The reason given was that there were problems in the European supply chain.

But there is a suspicion that pre-produced vaccine doses could have been sold to other buyers.

Kyriakides said the EU had pre-funded development and production capacity for the vaccine.

"The EU wants to know where exactly which cans have been produced by Astrazeneca so far and to whom they have been delivered," said the health commissioner.

The CDU European politician Peter Liese criticized that Astrazeneca "apparently delivers to other parts of the world, including Great Britain, without delay".

The reason for the delivery difficulties in the EU is threadbare, said Liese.

Corona vaccine: EU with massive allegations against manufacturers - Spahn calls for export controls

Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) demanded in Berlin: “

We as the EU must be able to know whether and which vaccines are exported from the EU.

This is the only way we can understand whether our EU contracts with manufacturers are being served fairly.

A corresponding obligation to approve vaccine exports at EU level makes sense. "

. @ jensspahn on the delivery bottlenecks for # Corona vaccines: "The #EU must be able to know whether & which vaccines are exported. This way we can understand whether the EU contracts are being served fairly. An obligation to approve #vaccine exports makes sense at EU level. "

- BMG (@BMG_Bund) January 25, 2021

The EU Commission is pursuing this with its "transparency register", which, according to information from EU circles, is to be introduced within a few days.

Kyriakides said all companies that produced Covid-19 vaccines in the EU would have to register in advance if they wanted to export to third countries.

Humanitarian deliveries are not affected.

The commission itself has been criticized for negotiating framework agreements with the manufacturers, but for the time being only relatively few corona vaccines are arriving in the 27 countries.

The vaccination campaign is paralyzed, while new virus variants spread and states continue to restrict daily life and travel.

The EU Commission also made a proposal on Monday.

Stricter test and quarantine rules are to be introduced for certain countries and regions.

In Germany, new rules for entry have been in effect since Sunday for more than 20 countries with particularly high numbers of infections.

Other EU countries have already tightened their requirements.

(dpa / rjs)