A week ago it became known that the Armenian Ministry of Health decided to buy a vaccine against COVID-19 made by the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.
"Armenia has decided to buy the AstraZeneca vaccine to inoculate 3% of the population. Priority will be given to people aged over 65, those who have underlying health conditions and medical workers," the ministry said.
Thus, Armenia decided to vaccinate its older generation with the AstraZeneca vaccine. It is noteworthy that a week after the ministry's decicion, it became known that Germany, and the entire European Union, may refuse from using this vaccine. The reason is that AstraZeneca is not very effective for people over 65. German daily papers Handelsblatt and Bild said in separate reports the vaccine - co-developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University - had an efficacy of 8% or less than 10%, respectively, in those over 65. German officials fear the vaccine may not be approved in the European Union for use in the elderly.
It turns out that Armenia will vaccinate the elderly residents of the country with a vaccine that is ineffective for them, which the Europeans have refused. Thus, in the very near future the Armenian government will have to answer unpleasant questions about its motives when making a decision on the purchase of AstraZeneca. It remains to be seen whether the Armenian government is deliberately trying to buy "pharmaceutical junk" from Europe at a low price, or is the reason for such an irresponsible decision was due to the ministry's lack of awareness about the vaccines it purchases?
