Denmark became at least the sixth European country to reduce the use of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine after some people who received it got blood clots.
Health officials say they are investigating the cases, but so far there is no evidence that the British drugmaker caused the blood clots.
The Danish Health and Medical Services on Thursday halted the roll-out of AstraZeneca’s jab for at least two weeks after ‘serious cases’ of blood clots in vaccines, one of which was linked to a death.
Danish officials say they should take time to investigate the incidents, although there is good evidence that the AstraZeneca vaccine is safe and effective.
Magnus Heunicke, Denmark’s Minister of Health, said it is not yet clear whether there is a connection between the womb and the blood clots. Danish officials are waiting for European Union authorities to investigate the possible link.
“Right now we need all the vaccines we can get. Therefore, it is not an easy decision to discontinue one of the vaccines, ‘said Søren Brostrøm, director of the Danish National Health Council, in a statement. “But precisely because we vaccinate so much, we must also respond in a timely manner if there is knowledge of possible serious side effects.”
Denmark’s decision comes after five EU countries – Austria, Estonia, Lithuania, Luxembourg and Latvia – stopped using doses from a single group of AstraZeneca vaccines this week due to blood clots.
According to the European Medicines Agency, the EU’s medicine regulator, three people in Austria developed blood clots after getting the jab, including one who died 10 days after vaccination.
A fourth patient developed a pulmonary embolism, a condition in which a blockage occurs in the arteries of the lungs, officials said.
The European Medicines Agency has said that there is “currently no indication” that AstraZeneca’s vaccine is causing the conditions, which are not listed as side effects for the shot.
“EU officials are investigating the quality of the group in question – which contains about 1 million doses to 17 countries – including that a quality deficiency is unlikely at this stage,” the agency said.
A total of 22 cases of blood clots were reported on Tuesday among the three million people who received AstraZeneca’s vaccine in the European Economic Area with 29 countries, officials said.
“The information available so far indicates that the number of thromboembolic events in vaccines is not higher than in the general population,” the European Medicines Agency said in a statement on Wednesday.
A spokesman for AstraZeneca noted that the safety of the vaccine had been “extensively studied” in clinical trials and that peer-reviewed data had confirmed that the shot was “generally well tolerated.”
“Patient safety is the top priority for AstraZeneca,” the company spokesman said in a statement. “Regulators have clear and strict efficacy and safety standards for the approval of any new medicine, and that includes COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca.”