EU Commission President: "I Will Get the AstraZeneca Vaccine"

Lower Preventive Effect Than Pfizer Vaccine Spurs Growing Resistance Impact

(Brussels Shinwha=Yonhap News) Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Union (EU) Commission, is holding a press conference at the EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on the 17th (local time). On the same day, the EU Commission presented measures to strengthen the response to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) variants.
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[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Hyun-joo] The head of the European Union (EU) executive branch has expressed willingness to receive the COVID-19 vaccine jointly developed by the multinational pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.

On the 23rd (local time), according to various media reports, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, told the German daily 'Augsburger Allgemeine,' "I would get the AstraZeneca vaccine immediately without a second thought. It is the same as the Moderna and BioNTech-Pfizer products."

Von der Leyen's remarks came amid growing resistance to the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine in Europe.

In Germany, due to a preference for the US Pfizer-German BioNTech vaccine, the number of unused AstraZeneca vaccines is increasing. In response, local doctors and public health officials are urging the public to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Currently, the COVID-19 vaccines approved for use by the EU are three: Pfizer-BioNTech, US Moderna, and AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccines.

The AstraZeneca vaccine is known to have lower efficacy compared to other vaccines. In November last year, AstraZeneca announced that the initial data analysis from the Phase 3 clinical trial of their vaccine under development showed an average preventive efficacy of 70%. This is lower than the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine's 94% efficacy and Moderna vaccine's 94.1% efficacy.

Currently, several European countries including Germany, France, Belgium, and Sweden limit the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine to adults under 65 years old, citing insufficient clinical data for the elderly.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.