Denmark, Norway and Iceland on Thursday temporarily
suspended the use of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine over concerns about
patients developing post-jab blood clots, as the manufacturer and Europe’s
medicines watchdog insisted the vaccine was safe.
Denmark was first to announce its suspension, “following
reports of serious cases of blood clots” among people who had received the
vaccine, the country’s Health Authority said in a statement.
It stressed the move was precautionary, and that “it has not
been determined, at the time being, that there is a link between the vaccine
and the blood clots”.
However, Europe’s medicines regulator said Thursday there appeared to be no higher risk of blood clots in those vaccinated against Covid-19, after Denmark, Norway and Iceland suspended use of the AstraZeneca jab.
“The information available so far indicates that the number
of thromboembolic events in vaccinated people is no higher than that seen in
the general population,” the European Medicines Agency told AFP by email when
asked about the suspension.
As of March 9, 22 cases of blood clots had been reported
among more than three million people vaccinated in the European Economic Area,
the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said.
Austria announced on Monday that it had suspended the use of
a batch of AstraZeneca vaccines after a 49-year-old nurse died of “severe blood
coagulation problems” days after receiving an anti-Covid shot.
Four other European countries — Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania
and Luxemburg — have also suspended the use of vaccines from this batch, which
was sent to 17 European countries and consisted of one million jabs.
Denmark however suspended the use of all of its AstraZeneca
supply, as did Iceland and Norway in subsequent announcements on Thursday
citing similar concerns.
On Wednesday, the EMA said a preliminary probe showed that
the batch of AstraZeneca vaccines used in Austria was likely not to blame for
the nurse’s death.
‘Super-cautious’
“This is a super-cautious approach based on some isolated
reports in Europe,” said Stephen Evans, a professor of pharmacoepidemiology at
the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
“The risk and benefit balance is still very much in favour
of the vaccine,” he said.
AstraZeneca, an Anglo-Swedish company which developed the
vaccine with Oxford University, defended the safety of its product.
“The safety of the vaccine has been extensively studied in
phase III clinical trials and peer-reviewed data confirms the vaccine has been
generally well tolerated,” a spokesman for the group told AFP.
Britain, whose widely-praised vaccine rollout has been largely
underpinned by the AstraZeneca jab, also defended it as “both safe and
effective”.
The Danish suspension, which will be reviewed after two
weeks, is expected to slow down the country’s vaccination campaign.
Denmark now expects to have its entire adult population
vaccinated by mid-August instead of early July, the health authority said.
“We are of course saddened by this news,” said Prime
Minister Mette Frederiksen.
Frederiksen, who has pushed for the production of more
vaccines and has formed a controversial alliance with Austria and Israel to do
so, defended the Danish health authorities’ decision.
“There is always a risk associated with vaccines,” she told
reporters.
“Things have gone well in Denmark, but there are some risks
linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine that need to be examined more closely. That
seems to me to be the right way to proceed.”
Danish Health Authority director Soren Brostrom stressed
that “we have not terminated the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, we are just
pausing its use”.
“There is broad documentation proving that the vaccine is
both safe and efficient,” Brostrom said.
“But both we and the Danish Medicines Agency must act on
information about possible serious side effects, both in Denmark and in other
European countries.”
Denmark said one person had died after receiving the
vaccine. The EMA has launched an investigation into that death.
In the Scandinavian country of 5.8 million, around 25
percent of those who have received a first dose were given the AstraZeneca jab.
In total, 3.8 percent of the population has received two
doses of vaccine and 13.4 percent at least one dose.
(AFP)
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