AstraZeneca Vaccine Facts that Sparked Controversy – The AstraZeneca vaccine is a vaccine against the covid 19 virus, which is currently causing controversy in the health world.
The Ministry of Health has suspended the distribution and use of the AstraZeneca batch CTMAV547 vaccine. This termination is for toxicity and sterility testing by the Food and Drug Administration (BPOM), as a precautionary effort by the government to ensure the safety of this British vaccine.
“Not all batches of AstraZeneca vaccine have been discontinued, distribution and use. Only Batch CTMAV547 has been temporarily suspended, pending the results of the investigation and testing from BPOM which may take one to two weeks, “said Ministry of Health spokesperson Siti Nadia Tarmiziq quoted on the kemkes.go.id page, Sunday (16/5/2021)
This discontinuation of use was carried out after a serious Post-Immunization Attachment Incident (AEFI) was reported which was suspected to be related to AstraZeneca Batch CTMAV547, where Komnas KIPI had recommended BPOM to conduct sterility and toxicity tests on this group due to insufficient data to confirm the diagnosis and classification of causes. AEFI in question.
1. Vaxzevria vaccine designed by the University of Oxford and manufactured by AstraZeneca
The vaccine, which is now known as Vaxzevria, was designed by the British University of Oxford and manufactured by the British-Swedish company AstraZeneca. This vaccine is noted to have an efficacy of 76 percent.
He is considered a key element in meeting the global need for a COVID-19 vaccine because it is produced in large quantities at low prices. Because they only need to be refrigerated rather than frozen, they can be used much more widely than mRNA vaccines.
2. High level of protection
One shot of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has a very high level of protection from COVID-19. This vaccine is able to reduce a person’s chances of getting sick and needing hospital treatment by more than 80 percent.
The findings from Public Health England were based on people over the age of 80, who were among the first to be immunized into a vaccination program in the UK.
3. How does the AstraZeneca vaccine work?
This vaccine is made from a weak version of the common cold virus (known as adenovirus) from chimpanzees. The virus has been modified to look more like a corona virus, but it cannot cause disease.
Once injected, the virus will teach the immune system how to fight the real virus.
4. How to save
Storage of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is quite easy to do because it does not have to be stored at a very cold temperature of -70 Celsius like the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine.
The AstraZeneca vaccine can be stored in an ordinary refrigerator. This makes it easier to distribute.
5. The effectiveness of the AstraZeneca vaccine
From large trials, it was found that the AstraZeneca vaccine was 62 percent effective against COVID-19. This means the vaccine meets the efficacy requirements of at least 50 percent of the World Health Organization (WHO).
That 62 percent also means the vaccine is better than the best flu shot, which is about 50 percent effective. What’s more, no one who has received the AstraZeneca vaccine is reported to have been hospitalized or became seriously ill with COVID-19.
However, in a recent study it was reported that a single dose of AstraZeneca vaccine offers 76 percent protection for three months, and this rises to 82 percent once the second dose is injected.