Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), speaks after Dr Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases during the 148th Session of the Executive Committee on Coronavirus Disease (COVID- 19) Geneva, Switzerland, January 21, 2021.
Christopher Black | WHO | through Reuters
The World Health Organization said on Friday it was reviewing recent reports of blood clots in some people receiving the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, which prompted several countries to stop launching the photos.
At least nine countries, including Denmark, Norway, Iceland and Thailand, have suspended the use of the vaccine for safety reasons. As of Wednesday, about 5 million people in Europe had received the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. Of this figure, 30 so-called thromboembolic events were reported to recipients. These are blood clots that form in the blood vessels and block blood flow.
AstraZeneca said in a statement on Friday that there is no “evidence” that the vaccine causes an increased risk of developing blood clots.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday that the Agency’s Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety “systematically analyzes safety signals and carefully evaluates current reports on the AstraZeneca vaccine”.
“As soon as WHO has gained a full understanding of these events,” he added, “the findings and any changes to our current recommendations will be communicated to the public immediately.”
Dr Mariangela Simao, WHO’s deputy director-general for access to medicines and health products, added that the global health agency “will probably have a statement on this next week as investigations are completed”.
The WHO is very much in line with the position that we should continue immunization until we clarify the causal relationship, she said.
Dr Soumya Swaminathan, chief scientist of the WHO, said it remains unclear whether the vaccine actually causes blood clots. An AstraZeneca spokesman noted that “the observed number of these types of events is significantly lower in those vaccinated than would be expected among the general population.”
“Adverse events reported after vaccination should be seen in the context of naturally occurring events in the population,” Swaminathan said. “Just because it’s reported after a vaccination doesn’t mean it’s because of the vaccination. It could be completely unrelated.”
The European Medicines Authority, the European Medicines Agency, has stressed that there is no indication that AstraZeneca shooting causes blood clots, adding that the benefits of the vaccine “continue to outweigh its risks”.
“The blood clot reports received so far are no higher than the number that would have occurred naturally in the vaccinated population,” said Dr. Phil Bryan, vaccine safety leader at the Agency for the Regulation of Medicines and Health Products. From Great Britain.
“Public safety will always come first. We keep this issue under close scrutiny, but the available evidence does not confirm that the vaccine is the cause. People should continue to go and get their COVID-19 vaccine when asked. this, “he added.
– CNBC Sam Meredith contributed to this report.