Non - Pandemic

Certainly the shambles over ordering the vaccines and messing up the contracts to try and get a cut price deal is indefensible.

It seems to me though that at least some of the blame for the uncertainly with the AZ vaccine for over 65s is down to the lacklustre initial trials, which included basic errors. The US regulators didn't mess about, no approval until you sort out proper trials. Their European equivalents had to push on because unlike the US the politicians had ballsed up procurement and left them with no backup options. Hence the messing around with certain age groups.

Arguably our regulators took a leap of faith that the US and European regulators weren't prepared to. Given that it was at that point a question of efficacy and not safety that seems reasonable to me. You can understand why others might not want to though. How would vaccinating a bunch of people with a vaccine that turned out not to work go down?
Agreed, there was certainly some issues with the US trial and in particular the dosage given on the second of the 2 vaccinations. Fortuitously the human error on dosage has led to a more effective dosage regime. Re efficacy the levels were always good enough for the vaccine to be approved, nothing below 50% and most data giving it in the 70% plus range. The other issue was the time between doses which again has turned out rather well with the longer period that we adopted now turning out to be more effective. At the time AZ themselves said they were not sure a 12 week wait was appropriate because not unreasonably it had not been trialled that way.
The US at the time could afford to take a much tougher view because they were predominantly relying on their home produced Pfizer vaccine and had many millions of doses of that approved and ready to go.
 
The Danish Government decided on the side of caution when complications with the Oxford vaccine appeared, they decided to cease using the vaccine until tests had been carried out, this process would not stop the vaccine program anyway as most of the vaccines used in Denmark were from Pfizer.
Due to the pause of not using the Oxford vaccine the goal of everyone in Denmark being fully vaccinated with two doses was pushed back a week to the end of July.
Pfizer are now supplying double the amount of doses per week from 112,000 to 202,000. We are also using the Moderna vaccine and the Johnson& Johnson vaccine becomes available Mid April.
The goal of everyone in Denmark being fully vaccinated with two doses is now back on track and everybody should be fully vaccinated by early July.
As for the P-pill argument, there isn't really any substitute for it, and it isn't given to women who have certain medical problems, then the normal precautions are advised, (condoms etc, etc )
Child birth is more dangerous by far.
The Danish Government has now extended (from 2 to 3 weeks) of not using the Oxford vaccine until the test results are complete.
 
So you accept that your criticism of EU flipflopping is conflating two different concerns? They stopped giving it to oldies for the same reason the US wouldn't give it to anyone. They then stopped giving it to youngsters for the same reasons our regulators are concerned about it.

These blood coot issues were brought up on here weeks ago and dismissed as typical EU politics yet here we are with our regulator albeit confirming they are concerned. I'm simply pointing out the double standards. Any politics that may be present in EU decision making is certainly present in the comments on here.
Macron didn't say there were not giving to old people because it hadn't been tested; he said they were not giving it to old people because the evidence showed it wasn't safe. That may be just ramblings of a buffoon, but more likely it was anti-AZ politicking.

The German claim that it was only 8% effective in old people, when actually he should have said that only 8% of the testing was on old people, is more likely to be pure buffoonery. It's too ridiculous to be deliberate misinformation.

The factory raids, the briefing about AZ exporting stuff to the UK when it isn't true, the whingeing about the UK-funded factory in Holland producing vaccines for the UK - that's all politicking.
 
Posted earlier today :- "I suspect that with the Moderna vaccine coming on stream they may recommend using that for younger people (under 30) if they have any doubts."

Maybe I should have done the press briefing and saved them a bit of bother ................................... ;)
 
So the Oxford vaccine has now been banned for the under 30s
A review by the drugs watchdog the MHRA found that by the end of March. 79 out of 20million Britons vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine had suffered deadly blood clots in the brain or arteries, a rate of about one in 250,000.
They kept that quite,
 
So the Oxford vaccine has now been banned for the under 30s

Professor Wei Shen, chairman of the Joint Committee Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which advises the government on vaccines, says...

"we are not advising a stop to any vaccination for any individual in any age group".
The advice to swap the AZ for younger age groups was "really out of the utmost caution" rather than "any serious safety concerns", he says.
 
So the Oxford vaccine has now been banned for the under 30s
A review by the drugs watchdog the MHRA found that by the end of March. 79 out of 20million Britons vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine had suffered deadly blood clots in the brain or arteries, a rate of about one in 250,000.
They kept that quite,
No, they said 19 out of 79 possible cases had died. So about 1 in a million. they also said there was no definitive proof the vaccine had caused them.
Also it is not banned, under 30's can opt for the other jab if they want it.
 
No, they said 19 out of 79 possible cases had died. So about 1 in a million. they also said there was no definitive proof the vaccine had caused them.
Also it is not banned, under 30's can opt for the other jab if they want it.

The advisors can't ban it. We've not heard from the politicians yet.
 
The advisors can't ban it. We've not heard from the politicians yet.
Eh, the MHRA can withdraw a drug or vaccine if they consider it unsafe or unsuitable for certain age groups etc, they don't need politicians to approve it.
After all the MHRA approve the vaccine for use, not the politicians.
 
So the Oxford vaccine has now been banned for the under 30s
A review by the drugs watchdog the MHRA found that by the end of March. 79 out of 20million Britons vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine had suffered deadly blood clots in the brain or arteries, a rate of about one in 250,000.
They kept that quite,

There's also an annoucement by the EMA today, which (again) recommends that EU countries do give out AZ. If the citizens will accept it!

Health ministers fom the European Union's 27 member states are set to discuss the findings of the Euopean Medicines Agency (EMA) on the risk of blood clots from the AstraZeneca jab.

According to a letter seen by Reuters news agency, the findings are expected to have an immediate impact on inoculation plans and will require a co-ordinated response.

"We expect this announcement will have a direct and immediate impact not only on our national vaccination plans, but also in our citizens' trust in vaccines against Covid-19," the letter says.

It comes after the EMA concluded the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine in preventing Covid-19 overall outweigh the risks of side effects (see our previous posts).

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-56659036
 
Eh, the MHRA can withdraw a drug or vaccine if they consider it unsafe or unsuitable for certain age groups etc, they don't need politicians to approve it.
After all the MHRA approve the vaccine for use, not the politicians.

Perhaps but I'm not sure what banning it for under 30s would look like if it's not exactly what they've just done.
 

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