The withdrawal of the anti-Covid vaccine by AstraZeneca has raised many fears among citizens who received this serum during the mass campaign. Of particular concern about the possible side effects, several patients turned to their family doctors. In reality, all the experts reassure us that the company has in fact made an economic choice. The vaccine is now little used, it has not been updated to the latest viral strains in circulation, it would not be a good investment.
In Como and its province, less than 70 thousand citizens have received AstraZeneca, of these around 25 thousand under 60.
Mrna technology vaccines were favored
«The news, known for some time, was poorly communicated – explains the Lombard virologist Fabrizio Pregliasco – Meanwhile, the possible and very rare adverse reactions were immediately present in the vaccine’s technical data sheet, no mystery. These are very rare events, so there is absolutely nothing to worry about. On the contrary, it should be remembered that the AstraZeneca vaccine in the early stages of the campaign made a valuable contribution to quickly expanding coverage and saving millions of human lives from the pandemic. The current withdrawal from trade has other, non-health reasons. The vaccine has not been updated, all European countries have chosen vaccines with Mrna technology, it would not make economic sense to continue to focus on this product.”
In truth, AstraZeneca’s history has not been very successful. In the early stages of the vaccination campaign, the health authorities had decided to target this vaccine to the youngest, first under 55, then under 65. Therefore AstraZeneca was used to secure the most exposed categories, from the police forces to teachers. Then the sad case occurred of a young woman who died perhaps due to an adverse reaction and therefore the risk of possible thrombosis, although very rare and declared, had led to a rapid change in strategy. AstraZeneca was therefore used above 60 years of age. Many in Como refused to receive this vaccine for weeks, but were unable to access the other serums available. That’s not all because for the second doses some categories of those vaccinated with AstraZeneca were administered a different vaccine, Pfizer or Moderna. In short, several messes have arisen. The final cherry on top was the name change: the vaccine became Vaxzevria.
Many also rejected it in Como
«Yes, objectively the communication and the repeated changes of front on AstraZeneca have not helped – says Pregliasco – first the elderly, then the young, then the heterologous and the name change. Even this withdrawal from the trade of the product seen from the outside almost sounds like a belated admission of guilt. While, as mentioned, the reasons, already public for some time, concern completely different topics.”
After the summer of 2021 in Como AstraZeneca was no longer used. As for today, even with Mrna vaccines, the vaccination campaign is not having great success, on the contrary. The administrations, which began last autumn, concerned approximately 5% of the people of Como, with only the seventy-year-old group approaching a coverage close to 30%.
