This is a new rut in the chaotic course of the AstraZeneca vaccine in France.
In an opinion issued on Friday, the High Authority for Health (HAS) now recommends to those under 55 who have received a first dose to
"complete the vaccination schedule"
with an RNA vaccine
"within 12 weeks after the first injection"
.
In other words, the 553,000 or so affected, mostly caregivers, will have to be injected with Pfizer or Moderna in a second dose.
To discover
A lead to explain the rare thromboses linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine
To read also:
AstraZeneca: "Many arguments in favor" of a second different dose, according to the HAS
With the risk obviously that this feeds mistrust vis-à-vis this vaccine which 71% of French people no longer want, according to an Odoxa-Backbone Consulting survey for
Le Figaro
.
And for good reason: at the time of its authorization in France on February 2, the vaccine from the Anglo-Swedish laboratory was initially reserved for those under 65, for lack of data on its effectiveness in the elderly.
A month later, its use was expanded, before being suspended on March 15 after reports of serious cases of blood clots in Europe (cerebral venous thrombosis).
Four days later, the HAS recommends that it be administered only to those over 55 years of age, these thromboses having mainly been observed in younger patients.
On Wednesday, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) finally acknowledged that these cases were indeed linked to AstraZeneca.
On Friday, she even added investigating other possible complications: five cases of
"fluid leaking from blood vessels, causing tissue to swell and blood pressure drop
.
"
Coup de grace
The fact is that cases of thrombosis, although serious, remain rare.
With nearly 200 million people having received at least one dose in at least 111 countries or territories, it is the most widely administered vaccine in the world.
In the United Kingdom, for example, where 20 million doses have been administered, health authorities have recorded 79 cases of blood clots, 19 of which were fatal.
Like the EMA and WHO, they therefore hammer home that the benefits of its use far outweigh the risks.
Read also:
A lead to explain the rare thromboses linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine
By preferring the precautionary principle, the HAS probably deals the final blow to a vaccine already the victim of a disastrous communication from the government.
On the ground, the damage is done.
“For a week, it's very complicated,
recognizes Philippe Boisnault, president of the French Society of General Medicine.
There are too many negative signals about this vaccine;
and whether they are true or not, people can only say to themselves “there is no smoke without fire”.
It's human."
This general practitioner from Magny-en-Vexin (Val-d'Oise) deplores the
"failure"
around this vaccine
:
"Talking about the benefit / risk balance only makes sense collectively, not individually, because the one who will have side effects will not be the one who will be saved by the vaccine."
“We may be good salespeople, it will be complicated,
annoys another general practitioner in Corsica
.
Each week the recommendations change for AstraZeneca.
As a result, people no longer want it, and even on a patient base of more than 1,600 people, the secretary struggles to find candidates.
Today everyone wants Pfizer. ”
However, it will be necessary to sell the stocks.
According to the Ministry of Health, 1.4 million doses were delivered last week, and France was supposed to receive 3 million in April and 3.5 million in May.
But the laboratory has just announced further delays.
“This morning at the office, my colleague was able to vaccinate 6 or 7 people, but I do not know what we will do with the rest of the vial (of ten doses).
I would be surprised if we manage to sell everything tomorrow, and since the opened bottle can be kept for 48 hours at most, the risk is that it ends up in the trash. "
Janssen in ambush
Not to mention, remind the doctors, that today the population eligible for this vaccine is small: the most vulnerable can be vaccinated in the center with Pfizer and Moderna.
Only those aged 55 to 69 without serious comorbidities have no other choice than AstraZeneca.
“Soon, the age limit for RNA vaccines will be lowered, so as they are not in such a hurry, they will wait,”
predicts Phillipe Boisnault.
"And still we would have to believe in it too to convince them!"
But there, it is quite simply indefensible ”
, estimates the doctor of Corsica.
In his forties, he himself received his first dose of AstraZeneca several weeks ago… and comes to regret, because
“there are no scientific studies on the effectiveness or on the side effects of the injection of 'another vaccine in second dose'
.
The HAS certainly has elements in favor of this strategy, but the WHO experts themselves admit that they cannot recommend it.
For the moment, we are forced to use it for lack of sufficient alternative.
But with the rise of other vaccines, we will probably have to do without them.
A member of the Covid-19 vaccine scientific committee
Finally, there is the question: does AstraZeneca's vaccine still have a future in France?
A member of the Covid-19 vaccine scientific committee admits behind the scenes that this product will need to be put back in the drawers as soon as possible.
“For the moment, we are forced to use it for lack of sufficient alternative.
But with the rise of other vaccines, we will probably have to do without them. "
The French will soon be able to count on the Janssen product, the first doses of which are expected the week of April 19.
Hoping that history does not repeat itself for this new product: the European regulator said Friday to examine cases of blood clots after its injection ...
