B U S I N E S S
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Edited by
James E. Ellis and
Benedikt Kammel● Shortages, unclear trial data, and questions about efficacy
have slowed the rollout of the company’s vaccine in EuropeCanCan AstraZeneca AstraZeneca
HealHeal Itself? Itself?
Tens of millions of people around the world are
desperately trying to get their hands on a poten-
tially life-saving coronavirus vaccine. But a group
of irate private-sector doctors in Italy is appeal-
ing to the country’s health ministry to avoid hav-
ing to take the Covid-19 shot it’s offered them: the
AstraZeneca Plc inoculation, which they believe
is less effective.
Their objection speaks to the growing backlash
in Europe against the vaccine co-developed by
Astra and the University of Oxford. Professionals
working in Italy’s public- sector health sys-
tem received vaccines from Pfizer Inc. and
Moderna Inc.—both shown to be more than 90%effective—and the private-sector doctors are angry
at being given what, in their view, is a second-class
shot. “It’s not that we’re acting like spoiled chil-
dren,” says Paolo Mezzana, a plastic surgeon who’s
the spokes person for a group of about 3,500 pri-
vate specialists. “We’re not against AstraZeneca for
the sake of it, but we know that with their vaccine,
it takes longer to get a complete immunization. We
are not class B doctors.”
Rejection of its vaccine in Europe is the latest in
a string of problems for Astra. After a bitter pub-
lic fight between the company and the European
Union over supply shortages in January led reg-
ulators to tighten controls on exports outside DHIRAJ SINGH/BLOOMBERGBloomberg Businessweek March 1, 2021