Counter-order comrades! Draghi and Macron think again: “Ready to go again” with AstraZeneca. But the omelette is done
The "Competent" as amateurs in disarray
It went just as we told you yesterday : a political decision and a decision to which the governments of France and Italy were forced after learning of Berlin's intention to suspend AstraZeneca without waiting for EMA's conclusions on suspected cases: not politically they could have afforded to show their public opinion less caution than that of the Germans, and so they went after Berlin. Already on Monday evening, French government sources admitted that Paris had been "taken by surprise" by the German decision and could not risk finding itself isolated.
As a further demonstration, yesterday came the joint backtrack of France and Italy. With a phone call in the late afternoon, the contents of which were made public, the Italian premier Draghi and the French president Macron effectively broke the axis of the four anti- AstraZeneca countries that had formed only the previous evening and distanced themselves from German position.
Sources in Palazzo Chigi have made it known that the two presidents, in an exchange of views on the decision taken the day before, agreed that the preliminary statements of the EMA (which in reality did not add anything to the observations already known for days) and, above all, they said they were "ready", in the event of a positive conclusion of the EMA survey, "to promptly restart the administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine". Therefore, Draghi and Macron anticipated by 48 hours the announcement of the resumption of AstraZeneca vaccinations which instead for Berlin is far from obvious, even in the event of a green light from the EMA. That "we are ready to go again", just one day after the stop and two from the final evaluation of the EMA, sounds like a reverse.
Evidently Ema's yes is taken for granted and this only increases the recriminations for a decision taken too lightly. Pressed by the bewilderment of their respective health authorities, Draghi and Macron must have realized very early on the misstep, the damage done to the vaccination campaign, and the image of subjection towards Berlin they showed. Was it worth following the German decision, suspending AstraZeneca, throwing the entire vaccination campaign into uncertainty, and then retracing its steps only 24 hours later? As for us Italians, all without Draghi deigning to give us the slightest explanation. At this juncture, two of the heads of government considered to be among the most "competent" have acted as amateurs in the fray.
But what did the EMA say yesterday? Although the conclusion of the investigation is expected by Thursday, he reiterated what he had already observed in recent days: there are no indications of a correlation between the administration of the doses and cases of death. The incidence of thromboembolic events in vaccinated with AstraZeneca (30 out of 5 million) is no higher than in the general population and similar numbers have also been reported with Pfizer and Moderna and also outside the European Union. The benefit-risk balance of the AstraZeneca vaccine remains positive.
In the meantime, the structure of the extraordinary commissioner Figliuolo has estimated the impact of the suspension of AstraZeneca : duration estimated in 4 days (until the pronouncement of the EMA on Thursday) and 200 thousand fewer doses administered, a delay that is believed to be reabsorbable in about two weeks. But are we really sure it's that easy? That we can simply restart, like turning a switch back on, as if nothing had happened?
As we explained yesterday , the omelette is done: one cannot think that after this stop-and-go , after these days of suspicions fueled by the same governments, the AstraZeneca vaccine is gaining the trust of before. It will not be so easy to reassure citizens, especially if Prime Minister Draghi continues to oppose his wall of silence.
The real damage inflicted on the vaccination campaign will depend on how many of those booked these days will not show up for the new appointment and on how many in the coming months will refuse it. Polls in this regard are already alarming. Which will pose a new dilemma: what to do with these citizens?
There is also a real risk that the distrust fostered in recent days is not limited to AstraZeneca , but that it extends to a certain extent to other vaccines as well. The in-depth analysis of AstraZeneca's data has in fact inevitably turned the spotlight on others, making it clear that a completely comparable amount of serious, even fatal, thromboembolic events have also been reported with Pfizer and Moderna (also here without any correlation being demonstrated -effect). Was it worth suspending, instead of waiting a few days for EMA's opinion that would resolve the situation?
The post Counter-order comrades! Draghi and Macron think again: “Ready to go again” with AstraZeneca. But the omelette is made appeared first on Atlantico Quotidiano .
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Atlantico Quotidiano at the URL http://www.atlanticoquotidiano.it/quotidiano/contrordine-compagni-draghi-e-macron-ci-ripensano-pronti-a-ripartire-con-astrazeneca-ma-la-frittata-e-fatta/ on Wed, 17 Mar 2021 05:02:00 +0000.