France, Germany, Italy and Spain on Monday became the latest countries to suspend the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, while EU regulators are investigating reports of blood clots to recipients, joining Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands , Ireland and a few others.
The most recent: The European Medicines Agency said in a statement that it would carry out a “rigorous analysis of all data on” blood clots this week, but added: “While its investigation is ongoing, the EMA is currently of the opinion that the benefits of AstraZeneca vaccine in preventing COVID-19, with its associated risk of hospitalization and death, outweigh the risks of side effects. “
Game status: AstraZeneca insisted that its vaccine is safe, and the World Health Organization warned countries against suspending vaccinations. Countries have said they are taking action as a precaution.
What are they saying: AstraZeneca said in a statement on Sunday that there had been 15 cases of deep vein thrombosis and 22 cases of pulmonary embolism among the 17 million people vaccinated so far in the European Union and the United Kingdom.
- “This is much lower than would be expected to occur naturally in a general population of this size and is similar to other authorized COVID-19 vaccines,” the pharmaceutical company said.
- “The nature of the pandemic has led to increased attention in individual cases and we go beyond standard practices for monitoring the safety of authorized drugs in reporting vaccination events to ensure public safety,” said AstraZeneca Medical Director Ann Taylor.
A spokesman for the World Health Organization said Monday: “As of today, there is no evidence that the incidents are caused by the vaccine and it is important that vaccination campaigns continue so that we can save lives and eliminate the severe disease from the virus.”
The whole picture: AstraZeneca is one of four coronavirus vaccines that have received emergency authorization in the EU, in addition to Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson. AstraZeneca has not yet applied for emergency authorization in the US, as it is awaiting data from a large clinical trial.