Early Tuesday, March 23, 2021, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) released a statement accusing AstraZeneca of “providing an incomplete view of the efficiency data.” This statement was released just hours after AstraZeneca stated and assured their vaccine is safe and 79% effective in protecting against COVID-19. This being said, both the NIAID and Dr. Anthony Fauci, who is the director of NIAID and President Biden’s chief medical advisor, do not put into question the safety of the vaccine. Both believe the vaccine is safe. Fauci states himself “this is likely a very good vaccine.” The NIAID did not say exactly how the outdated data could affect the clinical trial, but were just raising their concerns over the possibility of outdated and incomplete data. The AstraZeneca vaccine is not yet provided in the U.S, but it is provided in over 50 countries. The vaccine was highly popular in the United Kingdom and did have much success in it’s clinical trials. However, the vaccine is given a bad reputation after reports of serious side-effects, such as blood clots, were occuring in some patients. Some countries even halted the administration of the vaccine such as Germany, France, and Italy, but have since resumed, after additional research concluded the blood clots and the vaccine may not be linked. Unfortunately, both the accusations of providing false data and the serious side-effects have severely damaged the reputation of this vaccine and produced setbacks in further releasing the vaccine to more countries. There is still hope that the vaccine will be available in the U.S. by April, as it has been continuously reassured that the vaccine is safe.
Personally, when I first read about the accusations that the data could be outdated and incomplete surrounding the vaccine, I was worried. The media has already damaged the reputation of this vaccine so much, that I think this new statement just increased people’s hesitations about the vaccine. All I have heard was that people were having really bad side-effects and given that the vaccine is not available in the U.S. yet, made even myself question whether or not I would trust the vaccine. However, after doing more research, it’s safe for me to conclude that this vaccine is safe and effective. I would still be hesitant if I were to receive it and I think doing more clinical trials would be beneficial to relieve any hesitations and doubts.
Questions:
What do you think about the accusations made by the NIAID?
What are your opinions on the vaccine?
If you could choose, would you want to receive this vaccine? Why or why not?
Sources:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/astrazeneca-says-u-s-trial-data-shows-its-covid-19-n1261702
I would rather have another vaccine such as Pfizer or Moderna which a lot of people have gotten and I don't believe has such an uncertain background. I don't think it's right to say the AstraZeneca vaccine is "likely" a good vaccine since there could be bad side effects or not work very well. In addition, both Pfizer and Moderna's vaccines are 90%+ effective while AstraZeneca is only 79%. And while AstraZeneca may be a good option if there is no other vaccine available, while there are other more trusted and effective vaccines, I'd rather opt for those. Data on the vaccine should not be outdated as the virus mutates and people should get to know accurate information.
ReplyDeleteRight now with all of these vaccines, my personal thoughts are that no matter what the trials say or the effectiveness percentage, there's always going to be leap of faith, especially since these are all new. Nevertheless, it's most likely a better option to chose another vaccine as Kailey said, like Pfizer or Moderna, because their effectiveness is better rated and they've been distributed with confidence in America. During these times where people need to be getting a vaccine, optimistically I don't think the NIAID or Dr. Fauci would lightly accuse AstraZeneca because as seen that would lower confidence in the vaccine which wouldn't be helping their cause, so on the surface that dilemma is kind of questionable, but as Elysa did, people can always do more research to come to a conclusion.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you Caitlin about the vaccines being a leap of faith. Despite the vaccine having a high effectiveness and proven to be safe, I think the fact that the vaccine is new scares a lot of people. For the most part I think a lot of people, including myself, are very excited about the vaccine, but there is still hesitation about it. I think for this vaccine in particular, even more given the side effects some have experienced and the fact that is it not distributed in the US yet.
DeleteBased on personal preference, I would rather take a vaccine that has more exposure. In other words, it's proven that Moderna and Pfizer does in fact work, with a higher effectiveness percentage. Although some people have died and gotten seriously ill from Moderna and Pfizer, they are the most common vaccines taken so far, and likely won't cause much problems unless you are in the 1-2% that experience extreme side effects. I would never completely rule out AstraZeneca as bad, as Elysa said, the media could've made accusations to damage the reputation. In agreement with everyone above, I would still like to see more tests done to help build the public's confidence in the vaccine.
ReplyDeleteI think AstraZeneca dug themselves their own grave when it came to publicity for the vaccine. As you mentioned, the vaccine had great success in its clinical trials, which tells me that it should be pretty safe. However, AstraZeneca presented cherry-picked data, which was wrong, and a massive mistake. Presenting these hand-picked datapoints made it seem like there were things wrong with the vaccine that made the data less promising. That makes the vaccine seem unsafe, and that will, without a doubt, make people less inclined get it. If they had just presented the complete set of data, I don’t think this concern regarding the vaccine’s safety would have been drawn out so much. Personally, I would not mind receiving this vaccine, I do think it is safe. I would prefer to get the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines though because they seem to be more effective.
ReplyDeleteI agree completely about what you said about AstraZeneca digging themselves in their own grave. A lot of people are hesitant about any COVID-19 vaccine in the first place because it is so new and we have been in the pandemic for so long now. Using cherry-picked data does give off that they are untrustworthy and only making people's hesitations about this vaccine even worse. It was 100% a mistake on their part. I understand wanting to make their product look better and more appealing to the public, but when it comes to someone's health and other factors associated with the pandemic, it's better to be completely honest. Also, most researchers and scientists shouldn't pick and choose which data/evidence to present in the first place, just providing more reasons as to why this was a huge mistake.
DeleteI think that, due to the greater amount of publicity and use of vaccines like the ones produced by Pfizer, I would feel more comfortable regarding using those as opposed to this one. Even if the accusations are false, misleading, outdated, or simply not the whole picture, the mere presensce of these issues make me somewhat doubt the safety of them. I think that it is more than likely ok, given that there are plenty of other nations that are apparently using them. However, I do think I would rather take one that has had more use in the US, as well as be already greater distributed. I just feel more safe using those ones than the one by this company.
ReplyDeleteI agree with my peers that getting the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine seems safer than the AstraZeneca vaccine at the moment. I think that there should be more trials with the AstraZeneca vaccine and that all of the data should be made public before more people take the vaccine. Although it is 79% effective, the fact that there's such a scandal about it and the cherry-picked data does worry me a bit. Also, the severe side effects are concerning and I feel like more research should be done into these side effects and why they're happening (what's the differences between the vaccines and how can we reduce the side effects?). If I could choose, I'd rather get the Moderna, Pfizer, or Johnson and Johnson vaccine because I know more about them and they seem to be more effective.
ReplyDeleteI agree that getting the vaccines with more reliable results(pfizer or moderna) in the trials seems more safe. If their is already data on the vaccine that has been accused of being unreliable, if I hadn't already been vaccinated, would still choose to opt for the more distributed and studied vaccines. The AstraZenaca vaccine does sound promising, but it does seem like there needs to be more trials on it to make sure that it is safe for large amounts of people to take.
ReplyDeleteAstraZeneca did cherry pick the data when presenting to the CNC, which in any case is not scientific and makes me question their motives. Now that the US is in a place where there is starting to be a vaccine surplus there is no longer a need for AstraZeneca. However, the US could still buy the vaccine as presented and distribute it to other countries. We're getting at a point where vaccines need to be donated to poorer countries since there's such an obvious divide between first and third world countries with vaccine distribution. I hope the US' refusal of the vaccine creates more opportunity worldwide to receive it.
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