Researchers at the Greifswald teaching hospital in northern Germany said on Friday they had discovered the cause of the unusual blood clotting found in some recipients of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, public broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) reported.
The investigation showed how the vaccine caused rare brain thrombosis in a small number of patients.
The discovery means that targeted treatment can be offered to those who suffer from similar clotting, using a very common drug.
The success was the result of cooperation between Greifswald Hospital, the state health regulator of the Paul Ehrlich Institute (PEI) and doctors in Austria – a nurse there died of a thrombosis in her brain after being vaccinated with AstraZeneca.
The researchers pointed out that treatment will only be possible in patients with blood clots, rather than as a preventive treatment.
The information was transmitted to hospitals across Europe.
Symptoms such as continued headache, dizziness or visual disturbances lasting more than three days after vaccination require additional medical check-ups, according to the German Research Association for Thrombosis and Hemostasis, in a statement on recent findings.
Greifswald’s findings have not yet been published in a scientific journal and have therefore not been reviewed by independent experts. The Paul-Ehrlich Institute in Germany is now analyzing the work of scientists.
AstraZeneca is back on track in Europe
Germany, along with several other EU member states, suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine on Monday following reports of unusual blood clots.
On Thursday, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said there were no proven links between the vaccine and the clots, based on the information they had. They also stated that the benefits of the jab outweighed any possible risks.
In response to the updated guide, Germany was to resume vaccinations with the British-Swedish jab on Friday.
As of Thursday, Germany had administered more than 10 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, including the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Katja Sterzik from DW contributed to this article.