Australia, insurance, car, home, live, holidays

French President Emmanuel Macron on a videoconference with vaccine manufacturers in February. French officials recommended the AstraZeneca shot only be used for people aged under 65.Credit:AP

The biggest culprit is French President Emmanuel Macron,who on the very day Europe’s drug regulator approved the AstraZeneca jab for use in all age groups stood in front of reporters andsaid the vaccine appeared to “quasi-ineffective” for over 65s.

Macron’s statement was inaccurate. It is true that clinical trials did not produce a huge volume of data on how the elderly respond to the vaccine but Macron went too far and claimed that equated to a lack of effectiveness. Put simply,scientists and regulators are confident the vaccine will be highly effective but didn’t have quite enough information in January to put a precise number on it.

France,Germany,Italy,Spain,Belgium,Greece,Denmark,the Netherlands,Sweden,Poland,Austria and Norway have not approved AstraZeneca for use in the elderly,citing the lack of data. But poor messaging about the reason for the decision has poisoned the well. The fact Australia,Britain,Canada,the European Medicines Agency and World Health Organisation have approved AstraZeneca for all age groups has been totally lost in Europe’s muddied waters.

Professor Thomas Mertens,the chair of Germany’s vaccine committee,told BBC Radio 4 this week that there was “definitely a problem” in his country. “We are trying to convince people to accept that vaccine and build up the trust for the vaccine within the population. But as you may know,there is a psychological problem too and it will take some time to reach this goal.”

Another blow was delivered by German newspaperHandelsblatton January 25. Quoting anonymous government sources,the paper said the AstraZeneca vaccine had an effectiveness of just 8 per cent in the elderly. AstraZeneca and Germany’s Health Ministry rejected the claim but the story spread like wildfire on social media. The ministry suggested the reporter had mixed up efficacy with the number of people in the trial aged between 56 and 69,which was about 8 per cent.

The European Commission also hasn’t helped. The bloc has been conductinga major attack on AstraZeneca over the company’s delivery shortfalls - a campaign some observers saw as an attempt by the EU to distract from its own slow rollout.

Some 27.5 per cent of the population in Britain has been given at least one dose compared to 4.5 per cent in Germany,4.3 per cent in Italy and 4 per cent in France. It’s hard to blame the difference on limited supply when hundreds of thousands of AstraZeneca doses aren’t being used.

The EU is right to scrutinise promises by pharmaceutical giants but the war against AstraZeneca - a British–Swedish enterprise - was so shrill that some Europeans may have started to question the product rather than the corporate giant producing it.

The ultimate winners now are anti-vaxxers,who could only dream of seeding such widespread doubt. The movement enjoyed strong support in parts of Europe even before the pandemic arrived.

Macron is now trying to backpedal:“In view of the latest scientific studies,the efficacy of the AstraZeneca vaccine has been proven,” he told reporters this week. “If that’s the vaccine that’s offered to me,I will take it,of course.”

But so much damage has been done that governments are now launching public information campaigns to rehabilitate AstraZenca’s image. Meanwhile,hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people are avoiding a vaccine which could save their lives.

As far as own goals go,this one’s a killer. Literally.

What in the World

A note direct from our foreign correspondents about what’s making headlines around the world.Sign up for our weekly newsletter here.

License this article