AstraZeneca CEO says its Covid jab may have helped UK avoid serious illness amid European surge – business live | Business
Pascal Soriot, chief executive of AstraZeneca. Photograph: Brenda Goh/Reuters
The chief executive of AstraZeneca has said it was possible that the current spike in coronavirus in Europe was linked to governments’ decision not to use the company’s Covid-19 vaccine in older people.
After a German newspaper report that turned out to be false, there was doubt over the effectiveness of AstraZeneca’s vaccine in older people, and several European governments initially chose not to use it in those over 60 or over 65.
Germany, for example, then overturned its earlier verdict and approved the vaccine for the over 65s in March after further studies showed it was safe and effective. Public confidence in the jab was also eroded when a rare link with blood clots emerged.
Public confidence in…
