Western Warnings Tarnish Vaccines the World Badly Needs

Amid a deep residue of mistrust, Western cautions on the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines risk igniting an explosion of damaging anti-vaccine fervor in the global south.

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 the two main workhorse shots and threatening to prolong the coronavirus pandemic in countries that can ill afford to be choosy about vaccines. With a flood of new infections sweeping nearly every continent, the danger signs are flashing, most disconcertingly in Africa. In Malawi, people are asking doctors how to expunge the AstraZeneca vaccine from their bodies.