The AstraZeneca jab and the price of fragmented decision-making

Experts warn national authorities’ divergent policies may damage public trust and increase vaccine hesitancy in countries lacking access to alternative offerings.

Elena Hugony was sure about one thing as she entered a COVID-19 vaccination centre in the Italian city of Palermo last week: she was not going to allow to be injected with the AstraZeneca vaccine. Sure enough, when a healthcare worker approached her with a shot of the jab developed by the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical giant and the University of Oxford, the 75-year-old stood firm to her conviction. With Hugony refusing to leave, a doctor finally relented after four hours and gave her a shot of the Moderna vaccine. “No way I was going to get the AstraZeneca, with all the confusion around it,” said Hugony.