AstraZeneca’s blood clot concerns and supply hurdles mean troubles for the drug company

But the rollout has had problems including questions about misleading data and missed deliveries that clouded public perceptions of AstraZeneca as other vaccines progressed. With the support of the largest drug agency in Europe. The European Medicines Agency said on Wednesday that it was “reasonable” that blood clots were related to the vaccine, but it also “emphasized that the benefits of vaccination still outweigh the risks,” my colleagues reported. Beyond the continent’s borders – AstraZeneca’s problems are likely to have a huge global impact that, unlike many of its peers, the vaccine is relatively cheap and easy to administer. Most importantly, they make up a large portion of the planned supply for Covax, a global vaccine initiative linked to the World Health Organization that aims to ensure supply to low- and middle-income countries. The Council on Foreign Relations’ Global Health Program found that AstraZeneca was expected to account for nearly 50 percent of global vaccine supplies in low-middle-income countries and a third of vaccine supplies in low-income countries, and this scramble to obtain AstraZeneca doses contrasts with concerns. Concurrent about its safety. A number of European countries have already made changes to their vaccination programs before the EMA announcement, as Denmark and Norway have stopped using the vaccine completely, and Italy announced on Wednesday that it would recommend the AstraZeneca vaccine only to those over the age of 60, following similar steps recently in France and Germany, The story continues without being announced, even if blood clots are rare, the European Food Agency said, it seemed to be more severe for young men, with most cases reported in women under the age of 60. Struggling to get their dose. So far, there is no indication that AstraZeneca’s troubles will curb demand in many parts of the world. However, export controls, such as those imposed by the Indian government last month after the number of domestic cases increased, poses a problem, as the story continues without being announced, amid a catastrophic increase in cases last month, the Indian government imposed restrictions on the export of vaccines. The move affected the Pune-based Serum Institute, the world’s largest by volume, which was producing a vaccine developed by Oxford under an agreement with AstraZeneca, and India, which had been generous in donating the vaccine to poorer neighbors, backed down media descriptions of an export ban. F. K. Paul, a top health official in India, told The Washington Post last week: “We shouldn’t call it a downsizing,” admitting that there will be “some slowing down”, but hinting that it will be resolved within weeks. A UNICEF spokesperson said, last week, that Covax had so far only received 28 million doses of AstraZeneca from the Serum institute out of the 90 million it expected in March and April, but had been expecting normal exports to resume in May. Poonawala, CEO of the Serum Institute, expressed a more pessimistic view Tuesday, telling the Associated Press that exports may not resume fully until June if the increase in India does not subside. We will have to continue to supply to India, not anywhere else. “Because we must protect our nation,” Bunawala said. Some countries already say their vaccination goals may be affected. John Nkengasung, Director of the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the delay in delivering AstraZeneca doses could be “catastrophic” to meet the vaccination schedule on the continent. Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam also said they expect a slowdown, and India is not the only country with limited exports. Australia had a contract to deliver 3.8 million doses in January and February, but those hopes were dashed in March after the European Commission imposed restrictions on exports and prevented Italy from shipping 250,000 doses to Australia. That US contracts with major pharmaceutical manufacturers, including AstraZeneca, included specific language prohibiting overdoses from being shared with the rest of the world. “It’s a complete and total ban,” said an unnamed administration official about the contracts. However, Tom Pollike of the Council on Foreign Relations argued that the United States could negotiate more ways to share vaccines. Andrea Taylor, a researcher at Duke University, which tracks vaccine supplies, said one reason export controls in India had an effect is that they were unpredictable. On the other hand, the United States made it clear early in the pandemic that it would prioritize domestic vaccine supply. The story continues without announcing, “The United States could have played a significant role in getting a vaccine in the world, but it never planned to do so, at least not in 2021,” Taylor wrote in an email. “This is because their position in the beginning was very national, not global.” With its vaccination program advancing without approval of the AstraZeneca vaccine, the United States is largely isolated from its problems. Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s chief infectious disease physician, said last week that it is “still up in the air” whether the United States will ever need AstraZeneca doses. But for most of the rest of the world, this is the case. Not the bag, not the issue. As the demand for vaccination continues to grow, concern about the dual issues of safety and supply will remain high with it, and Nha Masih in Delhi contributed to this report.