LONDON (AP) – Nearly a dozen countries, including Germany, France and Italy, have temporarily suspended the use of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine after last week reported that some people in Denmark and Norway who received a dose developed blood clots, even if there is no evidence that the shooting was responsible.
The European Medicines Agency and the World Health Organization say available data do not suggest that the vaccine caused clots and that people should continue to be immunized. Here’s a look at what we know – and what we don’t.
WHAT HAPPENED?
Denmark was the first country to stop using the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine last week after reports of blood clots in some people, including a person who developed multiple clots and died 10 days after receiving at least one dose. The Danish health authorities said the suspension would last at least two weeks, while the cases were investigated, although they noted that “at present, it cannot be concluded whether there is a link between the vaccine and the blood clots”.
Norway, Iceland, Bulgaria, Thailand and Congo followed suit. On Saturday, Norwegian authorities reported that four people under the age of 50 who had received the AstraZeneca vaccine had an unusually low platelet count. This could lead to severe bleeding. Shortly afterwards, Ireland and the Netherlands announced that they were also temporarily ceasing to use the AstraZeneca vaccine.
The Dutch authorities – as well as those elsewhere – have stated that the suspension of the AstraZeneca vaccine is strictly a precaution.
“We must always err on the side of caution, which is why it is sensible to press the pause button now as a precautionary measure,” said Hugo de Jonge, the Dutch health minister.
On Monday, Norwegian doctors announced that one of the people hospitalized after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine died. After I said last week will continue with the vaccine, German officials said Monday that they will suspend its use after new reports of new problems, based on the advice of its drug regulator. French President Emmanuel Macron said France would also suspend its use, and Italy immediately said it would also stop using fire. The Spanish authorities have said they are reviewing the situation.
In response to the suspension of its vaccine, AstraZeneca said it had carefully analyzed data on 17 million people receiving doses across Europe and found that there were 37 cases of people who developed blood clots. He said there was “no evidence of an increased risk” of blood clots forming in any age group or gender in any country.
This is much smaller than would be expected to occur naturally in a general population of this size and is similar to other authorized COVID-19 vaccines, the company said.
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Is there any evidence that the vaccine is responsible?
Not. The European Medicines Agency says there is “no indication that vaccination has caused these conditions”. The EU regulator said the number of reports of blood clots in people receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine was not higher than for those who had not received the vaccine.
In the UK, where 11 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine have been given – more than any other country – about 11 people have been reported to develop blood clots after being shot. None were found to be caused by the vaccine.
Some doctors have pointed out that since vaccination campaigns began by administering doses to the most vulnerable people, those who are now immunized are more likely to already have health problems. Experts say this could make it difficult to determine if a vaccine is responsible.
Blood clots that form in the arms, legs or elsewhere can sometimes release and travel to the heart, brain or lungs, causing strokes, heart attacks or a deadly blockage of blood flow.
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SO WHY DID THEY STOP VACCARE?
Every time vaccines are widely released, scientists expect some serious health problems and deaths to be reported – simply because millions of people receive vaccines and expect problems to occur randomly in such a group. of the sea. The vast majority of these end up not being connected to the vaccine, but because COVID-19 vaccines are still experimental, scientists need to investigate any possibility that the shot may have some unintended side effects. The images are considered experimental because the vaccines have only been developed in the last year, so there is no long-term data for any of them.
“People are dying every day and we have over 300 million people worldwide who have been immunized and will die from other causes,” said Dr Mariangela Simao, WHO’s Deputy Director-General.
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IS THERE A CONCERN WITH OTHER COVID-19 VACCINES?
The EMA is currently examining whether COVID-19 fires by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna Inc. and AstraZeneca may cause low platelet levels in some patients, a condition that can lead to bruising and bleeding.
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DID ASTRAZENECA WORK IN OTHER PROBLEMS?
The vaccine has been approved for use in adults in over 50 countries and has been shown to be safe and effective in research in the UK, Brazil and South Africa. But concerns have been raised about how the vaccine data have been released, and some European leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, have questioned the vaccine’s effectiveness.
The United Kingdom first authorized the vaccine on the basis of partial results which suggested that the vaccines were approximately 70% effective. But these results were clouded by a production error that caused some participants to receive only half a dose in their first shot – an error that the researchers did not immediately recognize. When recommending that the vaccine be authorized, the EMA estimated the vaccine to be approximately 60% effective.
The data on whether the vaccine protects the elderly has also been incomplete, which has led some European countries to initially refuse to shoot the elderly.
In the US, the Food and Drug Administration suspended a study of 30,000 Americans for six unusual weeks as frustrated regulators sought information on some possible side effects reported in the UK.
“All the data we’ve seen about the AstraZeneca vaccine suggests that it’s very safe and saves people from dying from COVID,” said Dr. Paul Hunter, a professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia. “But this can be more of a perception issue, because every time there’s a vaccine issue, we hear the name ‘AstraZeneca’ shortly.”
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SO WHAT ARE EXPERTS THAT PEOPLE SAY TO DO?
The WHO and the EMA – as well as regulators in several countries – say people should continue to be immunized and that the small risks of vaccination far outweigh any potential harm.
“Public safety will always come first,” said the British drug regulator. “People should go and get their COVID-19 vaccine when asked to do so.”