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BRUSSELS, March 22 (Reuters) - Fewer Europeans trust the
AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine after several countries
reported side-effects, such as blood clots, an opinion poll by
YouGov showed on Monday, even though scientific studies have
found it is safe and effective.
An increased number of French, German, Italian and Spanish
adults said they considered the vaccine unsafe, YouGov found,
although faith in other vaccines by Pfizer Inc and
Moderna Inc was unaffected.
"Not only have we seen considerable rises in those who
consider it unsafe in the last two weeks in Europe, the
AstraZeneca vaccine continues to be seen as substantially less
safe than its Pfizer and Moderna counterparts," lead data
journalist at YouGov Matt Smith said in a statement.
Sixty-one percent of French adults surveyed said the vaccine
was unsafe, a rise of 18 percentage points compared to February,
YouGov said.
Just over half of German adults surveyed said they thought
the vaccine was unsafe, a rise of 15 percentage points compared
to February, while 43% of Italians had serious doubts, an
increase of almost a third.
Spain showed a similar increase to Italy in the level of
concern, YouGov said. Only in Britain was trust in the vaccine
stable.
While the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has investigated
reports of unusual blood disorders in recipients of the
AstraZeneca vaccine, it said last week the benefits outweighed
the risks and continues to recommend its use.
This month a series of European countries, including France,
Germany and Italy halted its use after Denmark and Norway
reporting isolated cases of bleeding, blood clots and a low
platelet count.
That was the latest setback in the European Union's troubled
rollout of vaccines that has been dogged by delays.
As EU nations face a third wave of infections and their
vaccination campaigns move more slowly than those of Britain and
the United States, health experts have chided EU leaders for
poor communication and said the vaccine AstraZeneca developed in
partnership with Britain's Oxford University is safe.
YouGov pollster surveyed 1,672 British adults, 2,024
Germans, 1,022 French, 1,016 Italians, 1050 Spaniards, 1,004
Danes, and 1,017 Swedes between March 12 and March 18 2021.
(Reporting by Robin Emmott; editing by Barbara Lewis)
