France announces turnaround on use of vaccine for older people, with other countries mulling options
Countries in the EU that had previously limited their use of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine to younger populations are beginning to change their stance, with evidence of high effectiveness of the vaccine in older people coming amid the slower rate of vaccine rollout in the bloc.
Although the European Medicines Agency, which regulates drugs in the EU, recommended in January that the AstraZeneca vaccine be approved for use in all age groups, EU countries including Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and Poland decided to administer it only to younger age groups.
This may have contributed to these countries having overall first-dose vaccination rates of only single-digit percentages of their populations, far behind the United States on about 24 per cent and the UK on about 31 per cent.
But in a change of stance on 1 March, France decided to begin administering the AstraZeneca vaccine among people aged over 65. France’s prime minister Emmanuel Macron had previously described the vaccine as being only “quasi-effective” in people over this age, drawing widespread ire.
“People affected by co-morbidities can be vaccinated with AstraZeneca, including those aged between 65 and 74,” French health minister Olivier Véran said in a televised address.
Data from the French health ministry show that of the 1.7 million Covid-19 vaccinations administered in France by the end of February, only 273,000 were AstraZeneca doses, the BBC reported.
Changing tack
Other nations are also thinking of changing their policies. The Guardian newspaper reported on 1 March that the Belgian government is considering administering the AstraZeneca vaccine to people over the age of 55, quoting health minister Frank Vandenbroucke as saying: “If we can administer AstraZeneca to everyone, our vaccination campaign can be simpler and more direct.”
But Germany, which is administering the AstraZeneca vaccine only to people aged 18 to 65, has reportedly stayed firm in its stance, despite mounting stockpiles of the vaccine. On 1 March, a government spokesperson said the country would not yet be adopting “a blanket release” of the AstraZeneca vaccine, the news website EurActive reported. Germany has used only 15 per cent of the AstraZeneca vaccine doses it has received, according to the DW news service.
The reversals and potential changes come as evidence mounts from the UK that the AstraZeneca vaccine provides strong protection in older people.
On 1 March, the UK’s deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam said findings from a 28 February study by Public Health England showing that the AstraZeneca vaccine was more than 80 per cent effective at preventing hospital admissions in older people “clearly vindicated” its use in this age group. Van-Tam said it was “not plausible” the vaccine would work only in younger adults.