The AstraZeneca shot is cheaper and easier to store than many of its rivals. But several countries in Europe and other parts of the world suspended its use because of isolated cases of blood clots.
Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca said Monday that trials showed its Covid-19 vaccine is 100 percent effective in preventing severe disease. As a row simmered between Britain and the EU over much-needed supplies of the jab.
Irish prime minister Micheal Martin said such a move would be “a very retrograde step”. While Britain’s leader urged the European Union not to carry out its threat.
It is also at the centre of a row between Britain and the EU. After Brussels threatened to ban exports to the UK unless the company delivers more of the 90 million doses. And it agreed to supply in the first quarter of 2021.
“We’re all facing the same pandemic, we all have the same problems,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday.
The spat is mostly focused on a Netherlands factory that is still awaiting official EU approval, but which both sides claim as a future source of the AstraZeneca jab.
Putin hits back
A Russia-made vaccine, Sputnik V, has also met with skepticism in the West, because it was registered last year, before undergoing any large-scale clinical trials.
Some EU officials such as Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton continue snub the jab, saying on Sunday, “we have absolutely no need for Sputnik V”.
But Russian President Vladimir Putin hit back against such comments on Monday.
“We are not imposing anything on anyone,” the 68-year-old said, announcing he planned to get a jab himself this week.
Other countries seem to have no such reservations.
Exiting the pandemic
Vaccination drives are seen as crucial to overcoming the pandemic that has killed more than 2.7 million people since first emerging in China in late 2019.
They are also the most likely route out of lockdowns and restrictions that continue to paralyze economies around the world.
A top US health official warned Americans it was too soon to resume travel despite progress in battle against coronavirus. After data showed the country recorded its highest number of airport check-ins since last year.