Demand for the COVID-19 vaccine produced by U.S. biotech firm Novavax has been underwhelming in the European Union's main countries in the early rollout, so far undermining hopes that it could convince vaccine skeptics to get a shot.
Over 85 per cent of adults in the 27-country EU bloc have received at least one dose and nearly two-thirds of them have also had a booster, but tens of millions remain unvaccinated.
The Novavax vaccine, the latest to receive the EU regulators' approval under the trade name of Nuvaxovid, was expected to persuade some skeptics because it is based on a more conventional technology than the other four vaccines authorized so far in the EU.
But initial data on Nuvaxovid's rollout show that it has had a small impact on vaccination campaigns.
In Germany, the EU's most populous country and home to more than 10 million unvaccinated adults, only about 38,000 Novavax doses have been administered since the start of the rollout on Feb. 24, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute.
In March so far on average nearly 90,000 COVID-19 vaccines have been administered daily in Germany, mostly boosters. Only three per cent of them were Novavax's, despite over two million doses distributed to the country.
A similar situation is emerging in Italy, where less than 16,000 Nuvaxovid doses have been administered since Feb 28, when the rollout started after the delivery of one million shots to vaccination centres. In the same period, the country injected over 70,000 COVID-19 vaccines a day, largely boosters, data from the government show.
Novavax said its protein-based shot will play a role in driving vaccination among those who have been hesitant to get immunized and it has started an educational effort on vaccine choices.
The arrival of the vaccine so far into the region's campaign which started in late 2020 and amid the easing of restrictive measures were among the reasons for the "disappointing performance," former head of the EU's drugs agency, Guido Rasi, said.
"NO UPSURGE"
Data from the European Center for Disease prevention and Control (ECDC) show that boosters amount to about two-thirds of all vaccinations in recent weeks, with the (messenger) mRNA vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech remaining the most used.
Nuvaxovid is used almost exclusively as a first dose for unvaccinated.
"The hope that the (Novavax) vaccine could convince the undecided has been dashed. Unfortunately, there is no upsurge in the number of newly vaccinated people," said Nino Cartabellotta, who chairs the Gimbe Foundation, a research group.
In France, only about 1,300 people received the Novavax vaccine in the first 10 days of the rollout.
Demand for boosters was far higher, with over 12,000 of Pfizer's third doses administered on March 10 alone, the last day for which data is available, data from the French health agency showed.
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Reporting by Francesco Guarascio in Brussels, Emilio Parodi in Milan and Ludwig Burger in Frankfurt.
The Israeli military targeted a top Hezbollah figure in a strike on Beirut's southern suburbs on Friday, two security sources in Lebanon said, sharply escalating the year-long conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed group.
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Lawyers in Britain representing dozens of alleged victims of Mohamed Al Fayed, the former boss of Harrods, said Friday their clients assert that he was a “monster†who raped and sexually abused young women.
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tapped Treasury Board President Anita Anand to take on additional duties as Canada's minister of transport on Thursday.
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A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.
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Standing up, speaking out, and showing solidarity — survivors and supporters gathered in the core to take back the night in Windsor. The city is just one of a growing list of communities that have declared intimate partner violence (IPV) an epidemic.
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Animal protection officers in British Columbia have rescued three pit bulls – including one that gave birth to 10 puppies – from a rat-infested home in Kelowna.
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A Lethbridge couple got a good reminder as to why you should keep your vehicle doors locked at all times.
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A new community health profile in the Algoma District shows the area is significantly below provincial averages in a number of health metrics.
North Bay Police Service says one person has died following an industrial accident at the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission Rail Yard on Tuesday.
Three northern Ontario residents are charged with drug trafficking after the vehicle they were in got stuck along a bush road off Highway 17 on Monday.
Newfoundland and Labrador's chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
A 16-year-old biennial event aimed at fostering business in the country's eastern Arctic and northern regions has been cancelled indefinitely as a dispute unfolds between Inuit in Canada and a Labrador group claiming to share their heritage.
Jim Lester’s farm hopped on the cow-cuddling trend in early August, and his time slots have been pretty well sold out ever since.
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