Is AstraZeneca rejoicing over the peak of infections in continental Europe?
That's why, according to Pascal Soriot, CEO of AstraZeneca, Europe is once again the epicenter of the pandemic (after rejecting the Anglo-Swedish vaccine)
The spike in cases in continental Europe would be linked to many countries' rejection of AstraZeneca's viral vector vaccine. Or at least that's what Pascal Soriot, CEO of the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company, claims.
WHAT SORIOT SAID
Soriot, speaking on a BBC radio show , to answer the question of whether he was disappointed with the UK's decision not to use AstraZeneca's vaccine for the booster, said there would be a link between the rise in Covid cases in Europe. continental and the rejection of their serum.
THE CASE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM
The CEO of AstraZeneca, in support of his thesis, has brought the case of the United Kingdom where, although infections continue to increase as in many other countries, the number of people hospitalized is still decreasing.
In Austria, for example, recalls the Financial Times , 28.7 in 100,000 people are in hospital compared to 12 in 100,000 in the UK. The latter, Soriot pointed out, has widely used the Anglo-Swedish vaccine and hence the link would arise.
“It's really interesting when you look at the UK,” he said. “There has been a big spike in infections but not as many hospitalizations compared to Europe. In the UK [the AstraZeneca vaccine, ed ] was used to vaccinate the elderly, while in Europe it was initially thought that the vaccine would not work in the elderly ”.
THE EXPLANATION OF SORIOT
The company's CEO explained that some data showed that the T-cell response of the Anglo-Swedish vaccine in older people may be longer lasting than in mRNA sera.
"What I am saying is that T cells do matter and in particular about the duration of the response, especially in older people, and this vaccine has been shown to stimulate T cells to a greater extent in older people," said Soriot. also added: “There is no proof of anything… we don't know. But we need more data to analyze this and get the answer ”.
WHAT ARE T CELLS
T cells are a class of immune cells that educate antibody-producing B cells about the nature of the viral threat and eliminate infected cells.
Boss of AstraZeneca, Pascal Soriot, says the AZ jab has been shown to stimulate T-cells, part of the immune system which defends the body against specific infections, to a higher degree in older people which has prevented hospitalizations.
Full interview: https://t.co/W0jaRQCLQY pic.twitter.com/3kjpIsrDsr
– BBC Radio 4 Today (@ BBCr4today) November 23, 2021
THE REACTION OF SCIENTISTS
Although there are theoretical reasons why the AstraZeneca vaccine might trigger slightly different immune responses than an mRNA vaccine such as Pfizer or Moderna, the scientists, however, writes the Guardian , have reacted with skepticism to Soriot's claims.
Danny Altmann, a professor of immunology at Imperial College London, said it would be 'reckless' to try to attribute differences in the shape of countries' infection curves to individual factors. In fact, many elements should be considered, such as if and when restrictions were introduced, the time elapsed between the first and second dose, the age of the population and the prevalence of other diseases, but also the appearance of new variants.
"Scientifically, I don't know where you could start doing that," Altmann said. “All vaccines are, to varying degrees, quite surprising. All induce the full range of immunities, including neutralizing antibodies and [different types of] T cells ”.
"Comparing countries presents many difficulties and is very likely to lead to conclusions that are not reliable," agreed Lance Turtle, lecturer and medical consultant in infectious diseases at the University of Liverpool.
THE CHANGE OF STRATEGY OF ASTRAZENECA
The interview with Soriot then, writes Endpoints News , also touched on the question of profits . AstraZeneca, in fact, has so far distributed the vaccine at the cost of production, without making any profit, unlike its competitors.
"We knew that some vaccines would be sold for profit but we decided from the start that we would partner with Oxford to get the vaccine to the world and to expand access as much as possible without making a profit," said the CEO. of the Anglo-Swedish house.
"We have no regrets about this decision", Soriot specified, confirming however that from next year the vaccine will begin to generate "a modest profit" for the company which will be used to finance a new anti-viral against Covid.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/sanita/astrazeneca-gongola-per-il-picco-di-contagi-nelleuropa-continentale/ on Wed, 24 Nov 2021 09:31:26 +0000.