By Alistair Smout and Sarah Young
LONDON, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Britain's health minister on
Wednesday defended the country's vaccine roll-out strategy after
scepticism emerged in Europe, saying the science supported a
decision to give the shot developed by Oxford University and
AstraZeneca to all age groups.
France, Belgium and Germany are among the European Union
countries to recommend that Oxford's vaccine is only given to
under 65s, while French President Emmanuel Macron was quoted on
Friday as saying that the shot appeared "quasi-ineffective"
among those over 65.
That is strongly disputed by the vaccine's developers and
the British government, and health minister Matt Hancock
defended Britain's approach when asked about Macron's comment.
"My view is that we should listen to the scientists ... and
the science on this one was already pretty clear, and then with
this publication overnight is absolutely crystal clear that the
Oxford vaccine not only works but works well," health secretary
Matt Hancock told BBC Radio, referring to new data from Oxford.
That preprint study showed that the Oxford vaccine had 76%
efficacy after a first shot in the 3 months until a second shot
was given, and higher efficacy if the second dose was given at
least 12 weeks after the first, supporting Britain's decision to
extend the gap between doses.
However, the study did not give extra direct evidence of
efficacy in older people.
Asked about Macron's comment, Oxford Vaccine Group chief
Andrew Pollard said: "I don't understand what that statement
means."
"The point is that we have rather less data in older adults,
which is why people have less certainty about the level of
protection," Pollard told BBC radio.
"But we have good immune responses in older adults very
similar to younger adults, the protection that we do see is in
exactly the same direction, and of a similar magnitude."
Britain is well ahead of France and other EU countries in
the pace of its roll-out, having approved the Oxford/AstraZeneca
shot earlier and made the change to dosing guidelines to give
some protection to more people in a quicker time frame.
French European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune defended the
comparatively slower pace of vaccines roll-out, saying Britain
had taken "enormous risks", for instance, in using the
Oxford/AstraZeneca shot on older people.
"You see, the United Kingdom has taken fewer precautions
than ourselves," Beaune told LCI TV on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Alistair Smout and Sarah Young, additional
reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta in Paris, editing by Giles Elgood)