BERLIN (AP) – Italy’s drug regulator on Monday announced a precautionary and temporary ban on the use of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine amid new reports of people developing dangerous blood clots after catching fire.
Aifa in Italy said the decision “was taken in accordance with similar measures taken by other European countries”.
He added that “further analysis of the issue is ongoing”. The announcement followed one day the most recent known death of a person in Italy, shortly after the vaccine was administered. A 57-year-old clarinet teacher, who received the vaccine in the northern region of Piedmont on Saturday night as part of a national launch for teachers, died at home early Sunday morning.
Autopsies were ordered for this death, as well as for a handful of other deaths last week from other people in Italy who had received the vaccine.
France and Germany also suspended vaccine use on Monday. AstraZeneca and global health authorities insist the shooting is safe.
THIS IS A NEWS UPDATE. The previous story of AP follows below.
BERLIN (AP) – French President Emmanuel Macron says France is suspending the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine as a precaution.
Macron told a news conference on Monday that French authorities had decided to suspend the shootings at least until Tuesday afternoon, when the European Medicines Agency would issue its recommendation on the vaccine. He did not explain the reasons for the decision.
He said France hopes to be able to vaccinate AstraZeneca again “soon”.
Other countries, including Germany, on Monday said they would temporarily stop using the vaccine as a precaution, amid reports that some people developed blood clots after receiving the shot.
AstraZeneca and global health authorities insist the shooting is safe.
THIS IS A NEWS UPDATE. The previous story of AP follows below.
Berlin, Germany
The country’s health minister said the decision was made on the advice of Germany’s national vaccine regulator, the Paul Ehrlich Institute, which has called for further investigations into seven reported cases of clots in the brains of people who have been vaccinated.
“Today’s decision is a purely preventive measure,” Jens Spahn said.
Several countries, starting with Denmark last week, have temporarily stopped using the AstraZeneca vaccine in recent days to investigate cases of blood clots that appeared after vaccination. These include Ireland, Thailand, the Netherlands, Norway, Iceland, Congo and Bulgaria.
Last week, Germany was one of several nations that were shot.
Blood clots can travel through the body and cause heart attacks, strokes and deadly blockages in the lungs.
AstraZeneca said there was no cause for concern with its vaccine and that fewer cases of thrombosis were reported in those who received the shot than in the general population.
They also said the European Medicines Agency and the World Health Organization that the data do not suggest that the vaccine caused the clots and that people should continue to be immunized.
Spahn, the German health minister, said of the decision to suspend the AstraZeneca shooting: “The most important thing for trust is transparency.”
Spahn said the European Medicines Agency would determine whether and how the new information would affect vaccine clearance across the continent and expressed hope that the Amsterdam regulator would make a decision this week.
According to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Germany has received just over 3 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine. Spahn said about 1.6 million shots had been fired in the country so far.
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