AstraZeneca Chief Links Use Of Firm’s Vaccine To Lower Hospitalisation In U.K And Its Rejection To Dramatic Covid-19 Surge In Mainland Europe

The decision not to use AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine for elderly people in several countries could help explain why the mainland Europe is experiencing a dramatic rise in Covid-19 cases, the company’s chief executive Pascal Soriot hinted during an interview to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

Pascal Soriot also linked the lower hospitalisation rate in U.K compared to the rest of Europe to the T-cell protection stimulated by the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine

“This vaccine has been shown to stimulate T-cells to a higher degree in older people. So we have not seen many hospitalisations in the UK, a lot of infections for sure. But what matters is are you severely ill or not, are you hospitalised or not.” Pascal Soriot said.

“What I’m saying is that T-cells do matter and in particular it relates to the durability of the response, especially in older people, and this vaccine has been shown to stimulate T-cells to a higher degree in older people.” Pascal added.

T -cells are one of the important white blood cells of the immune system and play a pivotal role in the adaptive immune response.

“It’s really interesting when you look at the UK, there was a big peak of infections, but not so many hospitalisations relative to Europe. In the UK, this vaccine was used to vaccinate older people. Whereas in Europe, people initially thought the vaccine didn’t work in elderly people.” Pascal Soriot further added.

Germany, which is middle of a brutal fourth wave of COVID infections with case numbers reach record levels, was the first European country to recommend not giving the AstraZeneca jab to those aged over 65 in late January, citing a lack of efficacy data for the vaccine in this age group. Other European countries including Italy, France, Poland and Sweden, followed suit.