Denmark became the first country to permanently stop using the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, after its possible connection with very rare cases of blood clots.
The Danish health authority said on Wednesday that, following its own review, the launch of the vaccine in the country would continue without the AstraZeneca shot, as it warned of “a real risk of severe side effects”.
“Based on scientific findings, our overall assessment is that there is a real risk of severe side effects associated with the use of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine,” said DHA General Manager Søren Brostrøm. “Therefore, we decided to remove the vaccine from our vaccination program,” he added.
The health agency said it agreed with the European Union Medicines Authority’s assessment that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks, but noted that the supervisory body urged individual countries to consider their own situations and vaccine availability .
Brostrøm said the epidemic is currently under control in Denmark, with much of the elderly population being vaccinated and those who have not yet been inoculated with a lower risk.
“We need to weigh this in relation to the fact that we now have a known risk of severe side effects from vaccination with AstraZeneca, even if the risk in absolute terms is low,” he added.
Those who have already received the first dose of AstraZeneca AZN,
AZN,
will be asked to have a different vaccine a second time, the health authority said.
Read: Moderna and Novavax have been added to the COVID-19 “mix and match” vaccination test
He added that Denmark could reintroduce the use of the vaccine by the British-Swedish drug company at a later date if the country’s situation changes.
Last week, the British government’s advisory committee said people under the age of 30 would be offered an alternative vaccine. It came after the UK Medicines Regulatory Authority – MHRA – said the benefits outweighed the risks for most people, but MHRA chief executive Dr June Raine said young people that it is more “well balanced”
Denmark’s move is another step back in the EU’s already slow vaccination campaign, which was exacerbated on Tuesday by US pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson JNJ,
said it would delay the planned launch of COVID-19 shot in the 27-member bloc due to reports of blood clotting.
Read: Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Break: What You Need to Know If You Got or Scheduled the Shot
J&J made the decision after U.S. health agencies called for an immediate halt to vaccine use while examining six severe cases of rare blood clots that were reported to people who received the shot. J&J was to deliver 55 million doses of its single vaccine in the second quarter.
The J&J vaccine has now been delayed only, but the analysis company Airfinity has warned that the launch of the vaccination in the EU will take two months longer than expected if the bloc could not use the blow at all.
However, there was good news for Europe, as the EU reached an agreement to speed up the delivery of another 50 million doses of vaccine jointly developed by German biotechnology BioNTech BNTX,
and the American drug company Pfizer PFE,
to stimulate the launch program.
Denmark’s decision could delay the launch of the vaccine in the country by up to four weeks, based on previous statements by health agencies, a Reuters report noted.
The country was the first to initially suspend the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine in March, for safety reasons. Last week, the EU drug regulator said “unusual blood clots” should be listed as a “very rare” side effect of the AstraZeneca vaccine, but insisted that the benefits of the shooting still outweigh the risks.
Read: Vaccine problems in Europe continue as Spain and Italy stop using AstraZeneca fire for less than 60 years
Most EU countries have since resumed use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, but some countries, including Spain and Italy, have limited the use of shots to people over 60 years of age. Last month, French and German health officials restricted the use of the AstraZeneca shot. for those over 55 and over 60, respectively, following concerns about unusual blood clotting in some recipients.
Shares of AstraZeneca traded 1.31% higher in London on Wednesday.
AstraZeneca acknowledged the findings of the EMA, as well as a separate analysis by the UK MHRA, stating that “they reaffirmed that the vaccine provides a high level of protection against all COVID-19 severities and that these benefits continue to far outweigh the risks. ”
The drug company said it is working with global regulators to better understand the individual cases, epidemiology and possible mechanisms that could explain these extremely rare events.