|
 France,
Belgium and Germany are among the European Union countries to
recommend that Oxford's vaccine is only given to under 65s, while
French President Emmanuel Macron was quoted on Friday as saying that
the shot appeared "quasi-ineffective" among those over 65.
That is strongly disputed by the vaccine's developers and the
British government, and health minister Matt Hancock defended
Britain's approach when asked about Macron's comment.
"My view is that we should listen to the scientists ... and the
science on this one was already pretty clear, and then with this
publication overnight is absolutely crystal clear that the Oxford
vaccine not only works but works well," health secretary Matt
Hancock told BBC Radio, referring to new data from Oxford.
That preprint study showed that the Oxford vaccine had 76% efficacy
after a first shot in the 3 months until a second shot was given,
and higher efficacy if the second dose was given at least 12 weeks
after the first, supporting Britain's decision to extend the gap
between doses.
However, the study did not give extra direct evidence of efficacy in
older people.
Asked about Macron's comment, Oxford Vaccine Group chief Andrew
Pollard said: "I don't understand what that statement means."
[to top of second column] |
"The point is that we have rather less data in older adults, which
is why people have less certainty about the level of protection,"
Pollard told BBC radio.
"But we have good immune responses in older adults very similar to
younger adults, the protection that we do see is in exactly the same
direction, and of a similar magnitude."
Britain is well ahead of France and other EU countries in the pace
of its roll-out, having approved the Oxford/AstraZeneca shot earlier
and made the change to dosing guidelines to give some protection to
more people in a quicker time frame.
French European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune defended the
comparatively slower pace of vaccines roll-out, saying Britain had
taken "enormous risks", for instance, in using the
Oxford/AstraZeneca shot on older people.
"You see, the United Kingdom has taken fewer precautions than
ourselves," Beaune told LCI TV on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Alistair Smout and Sarah Young, additional reporting
by Sudip Kar-Gupta in Paris, editing by Giles Elgood)
[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content |
