Filenews 9 February 2021 - by Marilena Panagi
At the heart again is the AstraZeneca vaccine, which once again puts the scientific world in a dilemma, with the question now being whether or not it should be given to people over 55 years of age. The german authority first called into question the effectiveness of the vaccine in older people, but the political scene did not allow an in-depth analysis of the issue, despite the fact that in recent days other European states have made age restrictions.
The answer that the competent authorities are called upon to give at this time does not concern the risk of this preparation, since the studies so far do not show this, but whether in people of older ages, the vaccine will be equally effective and provide the necessary protection against the coronavirus, reducing the risk of serious disease and/or death, following infection with the virus.
The different approaches to this gap resulting from the inability of the clinical studies from which the vaccine has passed to give clear answers are clearly reflected in the different decisions taken by governments in relation to its administration to local populations.
As far as the scientific data to date are known, a sufficient number of people over 65 years of age (only 10% of participants) were not involved in the clinical studies for the monitoring of the vaccine, so there are very few indications of the efficacy of the formulation in older people, which leaves questions. On the other hand, however, in the first two clinical studies involving a number of people over 70 years of age, it was found that people of these ages also had an equally good antibody response as younger people. To prove this question, the clinical trial carried out by the manufacturer is still under way, but the authorisation of the vaccine by the European Medicines Agency and the general lack of vaccines against coronavirus have forced decisions to be taken without delay, even if some of the questions remain unanswered.
Some countries have decided to wait for the publication of new data and have chosen to set age restrictions, and others, including Cyprus, have decided to follow the recommendations of the European Medicines Agency, which has not placed any restrictions on the age of the people who will receive it.
As the Scientific Adviser of the Ministry of Health on anti-coronavirus vaccines, Professor Christos Petrou, told "since it is a matter of indications, and certainly our choices in available vaccines are still very few, we are taking this direction in order to protect the people who will certainly be most at risk". On the other hand, he added, "we are also awaiting the results of the ongoing clinical trial and if other safe conclusions emerge, the matter will certainly be re-studied."
For his part, the head of the EES, who took the decision, Professor Konstantinos Tsioutis, analysing the thinking of Cypriot scientists, explained that from the data so far, "we know that this vaccine leads to an immune response (effectiveness), which continues to be observed up to 12 weeks after the first single dose (up to 82% effectiveness). Therefore, and with this in mind, the position is reinforced that the administration of the second 12-week dose will act as a booster, either to maintain and/or increase the rate of effectiveness'. So, he added, "since we as a country have made it our priority to protect the people most at risk and we already know that this vaccine can help us, even in the first instance, to protect these people from any serious symptoms that might put them at risk, we have made our recommendation."
Age restrictions in Europe
As far as the rest of Europe is concerned, age restrictions have been set by:
- Austria: The Vaccination Committee recommends the administration of the vaccine to people under 65 years of age.
- France: The High Health Authority (HAS) considers that people aged 50 to 65 with underlying health problems and health staff should have priority over access.
- Germany: The Vaccination Committee recommends the use of astraZeneca vaccine in people up to 64 years of age
- Portugal: The country's health minister said it is preferable for the vaccine to be given to people under 65, but stressed that vaccination of an older person should not be delayed if the AstraZeneca vaccine is the only one available.
- Italy: Recommendation for use of the vaccine preferably in adults 55 years of age and under.
- Poland: It will only give the vaccine to people 18 to 60 years of age.
- Spain: Approved the vaccine for use in people 18 to 55 years of age.
Finally, UK regulators have received additional evidence from AstraZeneca, which supports their position that the vaccine is effective in the elderly, an official dealing with vaccine issues is quoted as saying.
