Public faith in AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine across Europe dips: Poll

Confidence in the safety of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine has taken a hit in European countries. After reports of rare blood clots made the news, people’s confidence in the vaccine dipped especially in Spain, Germany, France, and Italy, poll data shows.

YouGov conducted the poll which found that even by late February, Europeans were wary of the AstraZeneca jab, as opposed to vaccines made by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna. Reports of blood clots from vaccines had severely damaged the public perception surrounding the vaccine.

Over the last two weeks, 13 European countries halted the use of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, which was developed in collaboration with Oxford University.

On Thursday, the European Medicines Agency conducted a review and said that the vaccine was safe and effective, and not directly linked to blood clots. Since then, many countries have resumed its use. Even then, the European regulator did not completely rule out any potential link to blood clots known as cerebral venous sinus thrombosis or CVST.

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The poll took into account 8,000 people across seven European countries between March 12 and 18 and found that people in France, Germany, Spain, and Italy where people now see the vaccine as unsafe.

Also read: Two cases of blood clots reported after AstraZeneca shot in Denmark

The vaccine made by AstraZeneca was already unpopular, and now continues to dip in the eyes of people. 55 per cent Germans said that the vaccine is unsafe. In France, 61 per cent said that the vaccine remains unsafe, while in Italy and Spain 36 per cent and 38 per cent respectively deem the jab unsafe.

It is only in Britain that the blood clot concern had no effect on the vaccine’s rep, where 77 per cent people believe the shot is safe. In addition, 79 per cent Britons believe Pfizer is safe for use.