Filenews 5 February 2021
A total of 7,200 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine arrive in Cyprus on Monday and the Advisory Scientific Committee on Coronavirus recommends granting it without an age limit.
As stated by the Ministry of Health, in the context of the authorisation of the AstraZeneca vaccine by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and with a view to the initiation of deliveries by the manufacturer, Starting on Monday, with 7,200 doses, the Scientific Advisory Committee on Coronavirus recommended the administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine, without an age limit, as the decision of the EMA, competent authority in the European Union for the evaluation of scientific evidence and licensing of medicinal products.
The reasons taken into account in the decision of the EES were the scientific data and recent publications it had before it at the time concerning the efficacy of the vaccine, as well as the need to maximise the benefit and effectiveness of the Vaccination Plan, following the official recommendation of the EMA.
In particular, account was taken of:
- Researchers from the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) report that the population of people over 56 was not adequately represented in the study to collect enough clinical efficacy data for older ages, but contrasted the fact that the immune antibody response in phase 1 and 2 was almost as good in people over 70 as younger people. These data were also taken into account by the EMA in order not to present an age limit as a restriction on its granting.
- The AstraZeneca vaccine is the only vaccine that, based on the results of clinical research, may reduce the communicability of the virus.
- Faster vaccination of people aged 65 and over as well as vulnerable groups, taking into account the availability of vaccines, will reduce morbidity and mortality, resulting in a reduction in hospitalizations and burden on the Health System.
In addition, the recommendation of the Advisory Scientific Committee, such as the 2nd dose of the vaccine, was adopted at week 12, taking into account the pre-publication of a study in the Lancet, with data collected from the United Kingdom, Brazil and South Africa. This study notes that the effectiveness of the first dose of the vaccine after the 12th week increases on average to 82%, compared to the efficacy of administration of the first dose where for a period of less than 6 weeks the effectiveness of the vaccine amounts on average to 55% and between the 6th and 8th weeks to 60%.
With this recommendation, which has been adopted by the Ministry of Health, the National Vaccination Plan continues seamlessly as planned from the beginning, a process that will allow vaccination protection at a faster rate for more people , especially population groups with chronic conditions that have an increased risk of serious disease.
Source: eyenews
