The AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine “appeared ineffective” for people over 65 years of age, according to French President Emmanuel Macron.
The AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine “appeared ineffective” for people over 65 years of age according to French President Emmanuel Macron.
Speaking to reporters hours before the European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommended the COVID-19 vaccine for adults of all ages, Macron on Friday also questioned Britain’s decision to delay the second dose of COVID-19 vaccines to vaccinate more people.
According to Macron, there’s “very little information” available for the COVID-19 vaccine jointly developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University.
“Today we think that it is quasi-ineffective for people over 65. What I can tell you officially today is that the early results we have are not encouraging for 60 to 65-year-old people concerning AstraZeneca,” he told the reporters, his office confirmed to AFP News.
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In addition, Macron said that he’s awaiting the European Medicines Agency’s verdict — which came later Friday — and also that of France’s own health authority “because they have the numbers”.
Citing sources close to the health authority, AFP News reported that the French expert decision on the said vaccine was expected at the start of next week.
Macron acknowledged that he didn’t have any data, and I don’t have a scientific team of my own to look at the numbers.
Addressing Britain’s vaccination strategy of stretching the time between first and second vaccine doses in order to give the protection afforded by the first vaccine dose to the maximum number of people, French President Emmanuel Macron said that the objective was “not to have the largest possible number of first doses”.
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