While in the United Kingdom no expert or politician has yet openly questioned the country’s vaccine policy, concern points to 10 Downing Street, as bad news accumulates about the vaccine from AstraZeneca and the University of ‘Oxford, threatening to undermine British confidence (so far very high) in this “national” vaccine, designed by the most prestigious campus in the country and produced by the Anglo-Swedish firm, for the most part on British soil .
No less than four members of the government stepped up to the plate Monday, February 8, to reassure its effectiveness, starting with the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, the day after South Africa’s suspension of the deployment of the vaccine, following the publication of a preliminary study showing its lack of efficacy on mild forms of the disease associated with the B.1.351 variant (known as “South African”). “I remain convinced that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is very effective in preventing severe cases and deaths, which is still the essential”, hammered Mr Johnson, on the sidelines of a visit to a diagnostic center in Derby, central England.
“Nothing proves” than the Oxford vaccine and AstraZeneca “Is not effective” to prevent people from falling seriously ill, had assured the BBC a little earlier the Secretary of State for Health, Edward Argar. “We have to keep in mind that the vaccines being rolled out in our country appear to be very effective in countering the currently dominant variant in the UK [le variant Kent, baptisé “B117”] “, insisted for his part Nadhim Zahawi, the Minister of Immunization, in a forum at Daily Telegraph. “The vaccination campaign is going very well, almost a quarter of UK adults have received a first dose, and we are at a turning point [le nombre de nouvelles infections a baissé de 25 % sur une semaine], I have confidence in the fact that our vaccines are effective ”, Health Minister Matt Hancock added during a press conference live from 10 Downing Street.
A questioning would be a disaster
AstraZeneca and Oxford’s vaccine is central to the country’s vaccine strategy and success: manufactured at around 2 million doses per week, it is easy to carry and can be stored in the refrigerator. It has been widely deployed in retirement homes and small health centers. Massive questioning of its effectiveness would be a disaster – first for the British, but also for Boris Johnson, who is counting on this campaign waged vigorously to make people forget a very heavy toll of Covid-19 (almost 113,000 deaths ).
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