DILI, 11 february 2021 (TATOLI)— Timor-Leste Government has not made a decision for the procurement of a AstraZeneca since there still a concerns regarding the side’s effects, the country’s Prime Minister, Taur Matan Ruak said today regarding the proposal presented to the Council of Ministers from the Ministry of Health for the acquisition of AstraZeneca vaccine.
Following the information that spread globally, the head of the Government figures out that, in Spain only several people have vaccinated and some were not received any vaccine, in spite in Portugal people in the age of 65 were not receiving the vaccine while in the South Africa, the government scrambled to tweak its COVID-19 vaccination program after the vaccine has faced rising concerns.
“Many information has distracted us and make us uncomfortable and concerned, thus we had not made any decision during the council meeting yesterday. I required the team to continue get the information from the World Health Organization (WHO). Tomorrow I will ask to have a meeting with the WHO to ensure to all of us that the vaccine is good,” Prime Minister said.
Speaking about covid-19, Taur stated that the Government will continue to prepare for the bad scenario during covid-19 and highlighted the important of AstraZeneca from WHO.
“WHO has notified the important function of AstraZeneca vaccine essentially to prevent people from covid-19, prevent people from death and prevent people to be hospitalized. Generally, this is good and we need certainty, before we are making any decision,” he said.
On the other hand, the commission of intern-ministerial led by Vice-Prime Minister and the Minister of Social Solidarity and Inclusion, Armanda Berta dos Santos has prepared the plan to access for AstraZeneca vaccine.
Minister of Health has registered six more covid-19 infections and the total of 29 patients are being isolated.
WHO Experts group opinions and recommendations on AstraZenic vaccine
Following the information from the AP news, regarding the WHO expert group recommendation on using of AstraZeneca vaccine, Dr. Alejandro Cravioto, chair of the WHO’s expert group said the AstraZeneca vaccine should be used in older age groups despite the lack of solid data, similar to advice from the European Medicine Agency (EMA) and Britain.
“That means people over 65 years of age should be given the vaccination,” he said
Countries including Germany, France and Belgium, however, have said the AstraZeneca vaccine should not be used in older people, citing insufficient evidence.
The expert group noted that “preliminary analyses” showed the AstraZeneca vaccine had a reduced effectiveness against coronavirus variants that have emerged in Britain and South Africa. Still, the studies were too small to produce definitive results and scientists think the vaccines might still be helpful in reducing severe disease, which would greatly slow the pandemic.
“Any decision to leave vulnerable populations completely unprotected is a risky decision at this point in time,” said Michael Head, a senior research fellow at the University of Southampton.
“Therefore, it is good to see the WHO recommend the use of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine in all ages groups, including older populations,” he said in a statement.
Journalist: Florêncio Miranda Ximenes
Editor: Julia Chatarina
