'It seems too early' - in Europe, safety concerns dampen excitement over COVID-19 vaccine

  • 11/10/2020
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LISBON (Reuters) - Some Europeans on Tuesday injected a dose of caution into the excitement which greeted news that Pfizer’s experimental COVID-19 vaccine was more than 90% effective in initial trials, expressing doubts about whether they would have the shot.Scientists and public health officials on Monday welcomed the first successful interim data from a large-scale clinical test as a watershed moment that could help turn the tide of the pandemic if the full trial results pan out. But reaction from the streets of Rome, London and Madrid, as well as on social media, revealed that hesitancy towards a COVID-19 vaccine extended beyond staunch ‘anti-vaxxers’ as even those who have been vaccinated for other diseases considered skipping this one, for now. “I think it’s good news if it’s effective, but I think it’s very difficult because it’s very early,” nursing assistant Maite Flores, 64, from Madrid told Reuters. “I’m fully vaccinated, and so are both of my children. I’m not anti-vax but I still wouldn’t touch it,” mother-of-two Charlotte Bordewey, 31, of Hereford, England, said on Facebook. “It’s the time scale. For something to be squeezed out this fast, without knowing long-term effects, is difficult to go with. There are too many unknowns at this point,” she told Reuters. Others, while not ruling out having a COVID-19 vaccine, said they would need more information before deciding.

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