LONDON (AP) – The world is waiting for the results of an initial European investigation to find out if there is evidence that the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine is behind the unusual blood clots reported in some recipients of the shot.
Concerns about coagulation have led more than a dozen European countries to suspend shot vaccinations, even though the company and international health agencies said there was no indication that the vaccine had caused clotting and recommended further inoculation. The European Union’s Drugs Committee of Experts is expected to provide an explanation for its analysis later on Thursday, including whether new precautions should be taken with regard to the vaccine.
While many countries have continued to use the vaccine, there are concerns that the debate could call into question the shooting, which is key to vaccinating the world’s population, especially in poorer countries. Even in Europe, where countries have the option to choose vaccines, this has complicated an already slow launch at a time when infections are growing again in many countries.
The head of the European Medicines Agency said this week that the priority of the medicines regulator is to confirm that the vaccine is safe and that it will consider a number of actions, including whether additional warnings should be added to the AstraZeneca vaccine.
“We are concerned that there could be an effect on vaccine confidence,” said CEO Emer Cooke. “But our job is to make sure that the products we authorize are safe and that we can be trusted by European citizens.”
Cases of blood clots have been reported in 37 of the 17 million people who received at least one dose of AstraZeneca vaccine in Europe. Both the EMA and the World Health Organization have said that there is no current evidence to suggest that the vaccine was responsible and that the benefits of immunization far outweighed the potential low risk. The drug manufacturer said that after careful analysis of its COVID-19 immunization data, it found no evidence of an increased risk of blood clots in any age group or sex in any country.
The vaccination break using the vaccine comes as the UK expects major delays in vaccine administration and tens of thousands of new daily cases have led to new blockades in Italy, increased hospitalization in France and German officials to announce that the third growth in COVID-19 has begun.
Figures from this week’s European Centers for Disease Prevention and Control show that there are around 7 million unused AstraZeneca vaccines in the EU out of 27 nations.
The German government has defended its decision to suspend the use of the vaccine, saying it is based on expert advice.
Government spokesman Ulrike Demmer told reporters in Berlin on Wednesday that he understood that some might be concerned about the move, but it should be seen as a sign that “confidence in our control mechanisms is justified.”
“That’s why this step could strengthen confidence in vaccines,” she said. “Concerns are taken seriously and examined. And as soon as these concerns are clarified, a vaccine can be used again without hesitation. ”
But some experts have expressed concern that the opposite could happen: the fact that very public and dramatic suspensions could already fuel high skepticism about vaccines that have been developed in record time.
Germany will rely on the EMA’s decision to proceed, Health Ministry spokesman Hanno Kautz said. Other countries, including France, have also indicated that they will follow the advice issued on Thursday.
Every time vaccines are launched on a large scale, scientists expect some serious health problems and deaths to be reported, simply because tens of millions of people receive the vaccines. Determining whether or not the vaccine is to blame may be difficult, especially as vaccination campaigns are currently focused on vulnerable people who may have other health problems.
However, as there are no long-term data on any of the COVID-19 vaccines, any potential signs of the problem should be carefully investigated.
Because clinical trials are only performed in tens of thousands of people, extremely rare side effects are often not detected until vaccines are used in many millions of people, long after they have been licensed. For example, it took almost a year after vaccination campaigns began after the swine flu pandemic of 2009 for European officials to see an increase in narcolepsy in children and adolescents who received the GlaxoSmithKline vaccine.
“It’s okay to investigate any potential signs of problems, but you can do this while you continue your immunization,” said Michael Head, a senior researcher in global health at the University of Southampton. “If we stop launching the vaccine every time there is a possible signal, it won’t be too much of a launch.”
Head warned that there are costs to go slowly: the more widely allowed the coronavirus circulates, the more likely it is to move to a more deadly version.
People may be more hesitant to get an AstraZeneca vaccine when immunization resumes, he said. “And this is happening at a time when we need to stop the circulation of the virus to reduce the chances of additional variants.”
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Jordanians reported from Berlin.
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