Covid-19 vaccine AstraZeneca

Covid-19 vaccine AstraZeneca, now Vaxzevria ®

The University of Oxford partnered with the British-Swedish company AstraZeneca to develop and test a coronavirus vaccine known as ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 or AZD1222.

''Covid-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca is a monovalent vaccine composed of a single recombinant, replication-deficient chimpanzee adenovirus (ChAdOx1) vector encoding the S glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2. The SARS-CoV-2 S immunogen in the vaccine is expressed in the trimeric pre-fusion conformation; the coding sequence has not been modified in order to stabilise the expressed S-protein in the pre-fusion conformation. Following administration, the S glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2 is expressed locally stimulating neutralising antibody and cellular immune responses, which may contribute to protection to covid-19.''

News

 * 12 Apr 2021, Politico.eu, Ireland to stop giving AstraZeneca vaccine to most under 60, Jab had been slated for use in a fifth of upcoming appointments. The government said those who had received AZ shots could get a different vaccine if they still required a second dose.  The U-turn means Vaxzevria chiefly will be used on people in their 60s, pending more data on clotting risks. Until now, Ireland has used other vaccines for people aged 70 or older, citing insufficient clinical evidence of Vaxzevria's efficacy on the elderly.
 * 09 Apr 2021, (fr) LeSoir.be, France: pour leur 2e dose, les moins de 55 ans recevront le vaccin Pfizer ou Moderna, La Haute autorité de la Santé a confirmé l’information.
 * 09 Apr 2021, (fr) LeSoir.be, Thierry Breton: «On peut atteindre l’immunité collective même sans AstraZeneca», S’il pense que le vaccin d’AstraZeneca conserve toute sa place dans le portefeuille européen, Thierry Breton estime que les objectifs de vaccination de l’été seront atteints même sans compter ces doses-là.
 * 09 Apr 2021, (fr) FranceInfo.fr, Vaccins contre le Covid-19 : on vous explique ce qu'est la "balance bénéfices-risques" évaluée par les autorités de santé, L'Agence européenne des médicaments a reconnu pour la première fois que le vaccin d'AstraZeneca pouvait provoquer, dans de très rares cas, des thromboses. Elle estime que la "balance bénéfices-risques" reste favorable au vaccin.
 * 08 Apr 2021, fullfact.org, What’s going on with the AstraZeneca vaccine?, If the chances of catching Covid-19 are low, as they were in March 2021, then the immediate potential for harm from the vaccine for those aged 20-29 slightly outweighs the benefits. 
 * 08 Apr 2021, TheEconomist.com, With millions vaccinated, rare side-effects of jabs are emerging, The challenge is to sort them from the medical emergencies that happen every day
 * 08 Apr 2021, (fr) FranceInfo.fr, Covid-19 : la Belgique réserve le vaccin AstraZeneca aux plus de 55 ans, l'Italie et l'Espagne aux plus de 60 ans, Ces annonces font suite aux conclusions de l'Agence européenne des médicaments (EMA) mercredi, confirmant "un lien possible" entre le vaccin anglo-suédois et de très rares cas de thromboses.
 * 07 Apr 2021, Politico.eu, Comms crisis: Regulators fail to assuage concerns over Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, Both the UK and EU agree the vaccine is saving thousands of lives.
 * 07 Apr 2021, Politico.eu, EU regulator backs Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, confirms link to ‘very rare’ blood clot, EU regulator says unusual blood clots should now be listed as a very rare side effect.
 * 07 Apr 2021, Politico.eu, UK restricts use of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine in under 30s over rare blood clots, Younger adults will be offered alternative coronavirus vaccines instead.
 * 07 Apr 2021, Politico.eu, [Belgium to stop giving Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine to people under 56, Decision will be reviewed after four weeks.
 * 06 Apr 2021, (fr) LeSoir.be, Le grand bluff d’AstraZeneca sur les vaccins, Les Européens sont agacés par la communication d’AstraZeneca, entre fausses promesses, boucs émissaires et omissions. Chronique d’une confrontation annoncée. Soriot ajoute d’autre part que le contrat européen a été signé trois mois après celui du Royaume-Uni et que cela lui assure la priorité. Or, le contrat britannique est daté du 28 août 2020, alors que l’UE a annoncé sa signature le 27 août.  La demande tardive d’autorisation de mise sur le marché à l’AEM aurait dû alerter les Européens. Elle a été déposée le 12 janvier, alors que les formalités britanniques sont pliées depuis fin décembre. Pourquoi avoir attendu si longtemps pour demander le feu vert de l’UE ?  Pourquoi le laboratoire a-t-il respecté son contrat britannique à 100 % et n’a honoré que 25 % des commandes de l’UE ? 
 * 06 Apr 2021, Politico.eu, AstraZeneca vaccine linked to rare blood clots, says EMA official, EU regulator continues to recommend use of the jab to protect against the coronavirus.
 * 06 Apr 2021, Politico.eu, AstraZeneca vaccine linked to rare blood clots, says EMA official, EU regulator continues to recommend use of the jab to protect against the coronavirus.
 * 02 Apr 2021, Politico.eu, UK regulator reports blood clots linked to Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, Number of related thrombosis cases in the country now at 30, up from five earlier this month.
 * 31 Mar 2021, (fr) marianne.net, Un nouveau nom pour le vaccin AstraZeneca, "On ne change pas ce qu’on vend en repeignant la façade du magasin"
 * 30 Mar 2021, Politico.eu, Merkel and Spahn: No more Oxford/AstraZeneca jabs for under 60s, Chancellor and her health minister followed advice from German regulator.
 * 30 Mar 2021, Politico.eu, German regions suspend Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine for those under 60, Officials are meeting to discuss the issue, with new recommendations expected for the country.
 * 27 Mar 2021, FranceInfo.fr, Vaccin d'AstraZeneca contre le Covid-19 : un risque de thrombose rare existe, confirme l'ANSM, L'Agence nationale de sûreté du médicament souligne néanmoins que la balance bénéfice-risque du vaccin britannique reste "favorable".
 * 26 Mar 2021, EIU, Countries hesitant to restart use of AstraZeneca vaccine
 * 25 Mar 2021, eminetra.co.uk, Sweden clears AstraZeneca vaccine for use over 65 years old, 'The decision to use AstraZeneca only for the elderly is a reversal of the recently adopted position in some European countries and recommends AstraZeneca only for young people due to the lack of initial testing for the elderly.''
 * 24 Mar 2021, Politico.eu, AstraZeneca asks for certification of Dutch vaccine plant, The factory has been producing doses already, but it requires the approval of the European Medicines Agency before the vaccines can be distributed throughout the bloc.
 * 23 Mar 2021, Politico.eu, US health agency casts doubt on Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine data, Officials raised concerns just after AstraZeneca announced that its US study indicated the shot was safe and effective.
 * 23 Mar 2021, The Economist, American officials question AstraZeneca’s vaccine results, Whether the company reported rosier data than it should have is unclear
 * 22 Mar 2021, Bloomberg.com, Astra vaccine 79% effective in US, shows no safety issues
 * 19 Mar 2021, Politico.eu, French authority says AstraZeneca vaccine should only go to those over 55, The recommendation comes just a day after the government announced that vaccination with the jab would resume.
 * 18 Mar 2021, Economist.com, Another shot in the foot. How Europe’s vaccine caution can cost lives, Avoid a small risk; incur a bigger one
 * 18 Mar 2021, Politico.eu, Revenge of the precautionary principle, Europe’s aversion to risk may end up costing lives, as countries rush to suspend AstraZeneca vaccine.
 * 18 Mar 2021, Politico.eu, EU drugs regulator: Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is safe, Countries began reversing suspensions following the green light from the European Medicines Agency.
 * 18 Mar 2021, Politico.eu, Indian producer: Delhi behind UK coronavirus vaccine shortfall, Only 5 million doses, out of 10 million ordered from India-based SII, will arrive in March in the U.K.
 * 18 Mar 2021, Politico.eu, EU drugs regulator: Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is safe, The decision comes after 20 EU countries either suspended, entirely or partially, their vaccination program with Oxford/AstraZeneca’s jab.
 * 17 Mar 2021, (fr) LeSoir.be, AstraZeneca, le vaccin en sept questions, De rares cas d’incidents thromboemboliques ont été rapportés en Europe. Plusieurs pays – mais pas la Belgique – ont suspendu par mesure de précaution l’administration du vaccin d’AstraZeneca. Y a-t-il un lien de causalité ?
 * 16 Mar 2021, Politico.eu, Politics threaten to cloud EU countries’ pause of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, It’s the second time numerous EU countries have diverged with the European Medicines Agency over the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.
 * 15 Mar 2021, Politico.eu, More countries pause Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine against EU regulator’s advice, The European Medicines Agency maintains the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks.
 * 15 Mar 2021, Economist.com, EU countries pause AstraZeneca’s covid-19 jab over safety fears, An abundance of caution could well backfire
 * 14 Mar 2021, AstraZeneca, Update on the safety of covid-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca
 * 11 Mar 2021, Politico.eu, EU countries halt Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine rollout over blood clots, Medicines agencies are seeking to quell fears, noting no causal link has been made. [...] "the enormous difficulty of distinguishing a causal effect from a coincidence." [...] In the U.K., more than 11 million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine have been administered — more than double the number across Europe. The weekly adverse reaction report, updated Thursday, shows there have been three deaths and 45 non-fatal blood clot-related events in the aftermath of getting the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, and one death and 48 non-fatal blood-clot related events after the BioNTech/Pfizer jab.
 * 11 Mar 2021, Politico.eu, Denmark suspends rollout of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine following cases of severe blood clots, The announcement follows initial reports in Austria of cases of blood clots after vaccination, which led to the suspension of a specific batch in the country.
 * 04 Mar 2021, Politoco.eu, Italy blocks shipment of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine headed to Australia, The EU’s export scheme requires companies to get explicit authorization from national authorities before exporting vaccines.
 * 03 Mar 2021, Politico.eu, Breton: No AstraZeneca jabs exported from the Netherlands after EU export controls, The Dutch site Halix has been a source confusion in the puzzle over why AstraZeneca fell more than 60 million doses short of its pledged EU delivery in the first quarter. The EU has largely blamed AstraZeneca, saying it sent those vaccines to the U.K.
 * 02 Mar 2021, Politico.eu, UK to import vaccine doses from India amid global jabs race, The U.K. will receive its first tranche of 10 million Indian-made Oxford/AstraZeneca doses next week, according to U.K. officials, allowing Britain to speed ahead in vaccinations while less wealthy countries wait.
 * 02 Mar 2021, FDANews.com, EU assessing Serum Institute of India’s AstraZeneca vaccine production
 * 26 Feb 2021, Fortune.com, The FDA’s foot-dragging on the AstraZeneca vaccine is indefensible
 * 22 Feb 2021, Politico.eu, How the UK gained an edge with AstraZeneca’s vaccine commitments, A comparison of the UK and EU contracts shows that London’s deal has extra teeth.
 * 12 Feb 2021, Politico.eu, After failing to deliver, AstraZeneca rethinks EU coronavirus vaccine supply chain, The British-Swedish drugmaker is signing new manufacturing deals.
 * 10 Feb 2021, Politico.eu, Von der Leyen: ‘Mistakes were made’ on vaccine export ban but ‘we got it right’: "If the United Kingdom is not willing to deliver doses to Europe, then why should we deliver doses to the United Kingdom?" Weber asked.
 * 10 Feb 2021, Politico.eu, Belgian plant blamed for AstraZeneca vaccine shortage says it met all deliveries
 * 10 Feb 2021, Reuters.com, Belgian plant Novasep says it complies with AstraZeneca contract amid vaccine supply cuts: The factory, which U.S. firm Thermo Fisher Scientific acquired from Novasep in January, has been identified as the cause of the cuts by AstraZeneca in internal meetings, several EU officials have said.
 * 03 Feb 2021, Politico.eu, Switzerland won’t authorize Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, citing lack of data: Swiss regulators first want to see data from large-scale human trials.
 * 02 Feb 2021, Politico.eu, France, Sweden, Poland: Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine not for elderly: The French health authority cited insufficient data on the elderly to make a conclusion.
 * 29 Jan 2021, Politico.eu, EU approves Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine but fails to erase doubts: German scientists stood by their call that there isn’t enough data to know whether use the vaccine in people over 65.
 * 29 Jan 2021, Politico.eu, EU regulator OKs Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine for all adults, The viral vector vaccine was long seen as the front-runner but was delayed after clinical trial issues in the fall.
 * 29 Jan 2021, Politico.eu, Redacted contract fails to clear up EU-AstraZeneca vaccine row, It’s still not clear how many doses the firm committed to provide in the first quarter.
 * 28 Jan 2021, Politico.eu, AstraZeneca’s ‘best efforts’ defense isn’t bulletproof, The phrase is at the heart of a battle over the EU’s delayed vaccine delivery.
 * 27 Jan 2021, Politico.eu, EU commissioner: AstraZeneca logic might work at the butcher’s, but not in vaccine contracts, ‘We reject the logic of first come, first served,’ says Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides.
 * 30 Dec 2020, AstraZeneca.com, AstraZeneca’s covid-19 vaccine authorised for emergency supply in the UK

Studies

 * 3 Mar 2021, (fr) MesVaccins.net, Le vaccin "COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca" peut être utilisé à tout âge chez les adultes, L'efficacité du vaccin d'AstraZeneca atteint 82 % après deux doses administrées à 12 semaines d'intervalle L'efficacité vaccinale contre les formes les plus graves de la covid 19 est proche de 100 % après 22 jours  La dose réduite qui avait paru procurer une meilleure efficacité dans un premier essai ne sera pas recommandée  Une protection contre la transmission du virus peut être attendue