[국제]AstraZeneca vaccine continues to be controversial…

[앵커]

Controversy about the efficacy of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which was decided by the Korean government as the flagship vaccine, continues.

While ten European countries have excluded the elderly from immunization, Switzerland and South Africa have withheld their use, some point out that further verification is needed.

Reporter Jo Soo-hyun reports.

[기자]

Germany was the first European country to exclude seniors 65 years of age or older from the AstraZeneca vaccine.

[옌스 스판 / 독일 보건부 장관 (지난달 28일) : 지난해 가을부터 몇 달 동안 아스트라제네카 백신에 대해 고령층 데이터가 부족하다는 논쟁이 이어지고 있습니다.]

European countries such as France, Italy, Austria, Belgium and Sweden made similar recommendations.

Taking it a step further, Switzerland has withheld AstraZeneca vaccine approval altogether.

This is because most of the clinical trial participants are under the age of 55, and there is a lack of data on those over the age of 55.

In this situation, a study found that even two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine could not prevent mild and moderate symptoms caused by South African mutations, and South Africa also suspended the use of the vaccine.

[즈웰 음키제 / 남아공 보건부 장관 : 일시적으로 아스트라제네카 백신을 보류했습니다. 이 문제에 대한 해결책을 찾을 때까지 그러기로 했습니다.]

In response, AstraZeneca also admitted that initial clinical trial data that the effectiveness of its vaccine was limited to mild cases, mainly caused by mutations originating in South Africa.

After further research, it is planned to release a next-generation vaccine that combats mutations by this fall.

However, as controversy over efficacy verification continues, the international community is increasingly cautious about the AstraZeneca vaccine.

This is YTN Soohyun Cho.

[저작권자(c) YTN & YTN plus 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]