Western warnings tarnish virus vaccines

Far beyond the United States and Europe, the safety scares engulfing the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines have jeopardized campaigns to inoculate the world, undercutting faith in two sorely needed shots and threatening to prolong the coronavirus pandemic in countries that can ill afford to be choosy about vaccines.

With new infections surging on nearly every continent, signs that the vaccination drive is in peril are emerging, most disconcertingly in Africa.

In Malawi, people are asking doctors how to expunge the AstraZeneca vaccine from their bodies.

In South Africa, health officials have paused giving the Johnson & Johnson shot, the only one they have, a repeat blow after dropping AstraZeneca from their arsenal in February.

And in Congo, not a single person has been vaccinated, despite 1.7 million doses of the AstraZeneca shot languishing in the country since March 2.

In those countries and others, Western colonialism and unethical medical practices have left a residue of mistrust in vaccines, which could harden if the perception takes hold that rich countries are dumping second-rate shots on the global south.

Already, doctors say, the recent pauses have vindicated vaccine skeptics and made many others feel duped.

“People, especially those who were vaccinated, felt like they had been tricked in a way; they were asking, ‘How do we get rid of the vaccine in our body?’” said Precious Makiyi, a doctor and behavioral scientist in Malawi, where health workers have been racing to empty their shelves of nearly expired AstraZeneca doses.

Health officials fear that any setbacks in vaccinations could sow the seeds of the next calamitous outbreak, one that deluges hospitals and exports new mutations around the world.