AMSTERDAM v LONDON (Reuters) – Germany, France and other European nations announced plans to resume use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday after EU and British regulators moved to support confidence in the shooting, saying the benefits its outweigh the risks.
Reports of rare blood clots have prompted more than a dozen nations to stop using the shot, the latest challenge for AstraZeneca’s ambition to produce a “vaccine for the world”, as the total number of coronavirus deaths exceeds 2.8 million. .
The European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) ‘clear’ conclusion following an investigation into 30 cases of unusual blood disorders was that the benefits of the vaccine in protecting people from coronavirus-related death or hospitalization outweigh the possible risks, although he said that a the connection between blood clots in the brain and the shot could not be ruled out permanently.
“This is a safe and effective vaccine,” EMA Director Emer Cooke said in a briefing. “If it were me, I would have been vaccinated tomorrow.”
In a few hours, Germany said it would resume administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine on Friday morning. The Minister of Health, Jens Spahn, declared that the suspension of the vaccine as a precaution was the right call “until the grouping of this very rare type of thrombosis was examined”.
France also said it would resume use of the vaccine, with Prime Minister Jean Castex saying he would receive the shot himself on Friday afternoon.
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said Italy would do the same and that his government’s priority remains to vaccinate as many people as possible.
Spain has said it is considering a possible resumption, while Cyprus, Latvia and Lithuania have said they will resume the vaccine.
Many governments have said the decision to discontinue vaccinations is a matter of extreme caution. But experts have warned that political interference could undermine public confidence in vaccinations as governments struggle to tame more variants of infectious viruses.
“We are confident that, following careful regulatory decisions, vaccinations can be resumed across Europe,” AstraZeneca Medical Director Ann Taylor said in a statement.
EUROPE LAGS UK, USA
The EMA analysis covered 20 million people, given the UK’s AstraZeneca shot and the European Economic Area (EEA), which connects 30 European countries.
Safety concerns have led at least 13 European countries to stop firing, slowing an already ineffective inoculation campaign in the EU, which lags behind Britain and the United States.
The UK Medicines and Medicines Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said earlier that it was investigating five reported cases of rare blood clots from 11 million outbreaks in the UK.
He said he would investigate reports of clots in the cerebral veins (sinus venous thrombosis or CSVT) that occur with platelets that come down shortly after vaccination. But the agency said the use of the vaccine should continue and an official said the UK launch would likely continue even if it proved to be a link.
The launch of AstraZeneca was among the first and cheapest of the COVID-19 vaccines to be developed and released in bulk and is set to be the mainstay of vaccination programs in much of the developing world.
“The EMA (verdict) now provides clarity on the safety of this vaccine, which should now be vaccinated at a high rate after this safety shutdown, in order to effectively prevent the real risk, ie sometimes serious medical damage caused by Covid- 19 ”, said Clemens Wendtner, head of infectious diseases at the Munich Schwabing clinic.
The doctor’s own analysis covering more than 17 million people who caught fire in the EU and the UK found no evidence of an increased risk of blood clots.
This week, the World Health Organization reaffirmed its support for the shooting.
The EMA said it would update its AstraZeneca vaccine guide to include an explanation for patients about potential risks and information for healthcare professionals.
The agency said it is working with regulators around the world to keep abreast of possible side effects of all COVID-19 vaccines.
Reporting by Anthony Deutsch and Toby Sterling in Amsterdam, Ludwig Burger in Frankfurt, Kate Kelland and Alistair Smout in London and Caroline Copley in Berlin; Written by Josephine Mason, Elaine Hardcastle and Nick Tattersall; Editing by Bill Berkrot