European trust in AstraZeneca vaccine falls

European trust in AstraZeneca vaccine falls

Fewer Europeans trust the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine after several countries reported side effects, such as blood clots, a YouGov opinion poll showed on Monday, even though scientific studies have found it to be safe and effective. More French, German, Italian, and Spanish adults said they considered the vaccine to be unsafe, YouGov found, although faith in other vaccines from Pfizer Inc and Moderna Inc was not affected.

“We have not only seen considerable increases in those who consider it unsafe in the last two weeks in Europe,
The AstraZeneca vaccine is still considered substantially less safe than its counterparts Pfizer and Moderna, ”YouGov Senior Data Reporter Matt Smith said in a statement. Sixty-one percent of French adults surveyed said the vaccine was unsafe, an increase of 18 percentage points compared to February, YouGov said.

Just over half of German adults surveyed said they thought the vaccine was unsafe, an increase of 15 percentage points compared to February, while 43% of Italians had serious doubts, an increase of almost a third. Spain showed a similar increase to Italy in the level of concern, YouGov said. Only in Britain was confidence in the vaccine stable.

While the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has investigated reports of unusual blood disorders in recipients of the
AstraZeneca vaccine said last week that the benefits outweighed the risks and continue to recommend its use. This month, a number of European countries, including France, Germany, and Italy, halted their use after Denmark and Norway
reporting isolated cases of hemorrhage, blood clots, and low platelet count. That was the latest setback in the troubled European Union vaccine launch that has been hit by delays.

As EU nations face the third wave of infections and their vaccination campaigns progress more slowly than those of Britain and the United States, health experts have berated EU leaders for miscommunication, saying that the vaccine that AstraZeneca developed in association with the University of Oxford in Great Britain is safe. The YouGov pollster surveyed 1,672 British adults, 2,024 Germans, 1,022 French, 1,016 Italians, 1,050 Spanish, 1,004 Danes, and 1,017 Swedes between March 12 and 18, 2021.