Culture notes: Jabs that started a vaccine fight

Catherine Fieschi on how the world fell out trying to counter a pandemic

The World Today

Published 2 April 2021

Updated 1 April 2021 — 2 minute READ

Image — Germany's vaccination programme has been criticized in the German media for its slow rollout and over-reliance on joint action with the European Union

Catherine Fieschi

Director, Counterpoint

The results of the most recent AstraZeneca tests in the United States seem to confirm that its vaccine against COVID-19 has been found to be 76  per cent effective and safe. It is an understatement to say that AstraZeneca has had a chequered start: marred by delays, then poor communication – incomplete, misleading results were initially announced – then plagued by production problems; blamed for poor planning by a panicked European leadership that saw its promised doses melt like ice cream in the sun; and, finally, rendered suspect by the temporary suspension of the vaccine. 

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