LONDON (PA) – Irish health officials on Sunday recommended the temporary suspension of the AstraZeneca vaccine following reports of severe blood clotting after inoculation in Norway.
Dr Ronan Glynn, Ireland’s deputy doctor, said the recommendation was made after the Norwegian drug agency reported four cases of blood clotting in adults after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine.
He said that while there was no conclusive link between the vaccine and the cases, Irish health officials recommend suspending the vaccine as a precautionary measure. The Danish, Norwegian and Icelandic authorities have taken similar precautions.
AstraZeneca said in a statement on Sunday that it “would like to offer reassurance on the safety of the COVID-19 vaccine based on clear scientific evidence.”
“Public safety will always come first,” said the British-Swedish biopharmaceutical company, adding that “it keeps this issue under close scrutiny, but the available evidence does not confirm that the vaccine is the cause.”
The company said a safety analysis of more than 17 million people receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine in the European Union and the UK “showed no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or thrombocytopenia, in any age group, sex, group or in a particular country. ”
The World Health Organization and the European Medicines Regulatory Authority have previously said that there is no link between jab and an increased risk of developing a clot.
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