On March 13, 2021, a medical worker fills a syringe with AstraZeneca vaccine at Santa Caterina da Siena – Amendola Secondary School in Salerno, Salerno, Italy.
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LONDON – Ireland and the Netherlands have joined the growing list of countries that have suspended use of the coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford due to blood clots.
The Dutch government said on Sunday that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine would only be used on March 29, while Ireland said earlier in the day that the shot had been temporarily suspended as a precautionary measure.
The World Health Organization has sought to reduce ongoing safety issues, saying last week that there is no link between the shot and an increased risk of developing blood clots. The United Nations Health Agency has called on countries to continue vaccinating Oxford-AstraZeneca.
Despite this, a number of European countries have already suspended the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. This increased the misery of the region’s vaccination campaign at a time when the German public health agency had warned that a third wave of coronavirus infections had already started.
Thailand has also halted its planned deployment of the vaccine.
The move to suspend its use by Dutch and Irish officials came shortly after the Norwegian Medicines Agency said three health workers in hospital were being treated for bleeding, blood clots and a low platelet count after taking the Oxford-AstraZeneca. vaccine received. Norway has suspended its Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccination program.
Geir Bukholm, director of the Division of Infection Control and Environmental Health at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, said that the Norwegian Medicines Agency would follow up on these suspected side effects and take the necessary measures in this serious situation.
On 27 November 2020, ‘Nikki’ Anniken Hars will be treated by a Covid-19 patient in the intensive care unit of Oslo University Hospital Rikshospitalet in Oslo, Norway.
JIL YNGLAND | AFP | Getty Images
The European Drug Regulator, the European Medicines Agency, also said there was no evidence that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine caused blood clots, adding that he believed the benefits of the vaccine outweighed the risks.
The EMA acknowledged that some European countries had suspended the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca shot, but said vaccinations could still be given while an investigation into cases of blood clots was underway.
How did AstraZeneca react?
A careful review of all available safety data from more than 17 million people vaccinated in the European Union (EU) and the UK with COVID-19 vaccine, AstraZeneca showed no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or thrombocytopenia, in any defined age group, gender, group or in any specific country, ”AstraZeneca said in a statement on Sunday.
The most common side effects of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, which does not contain the virus and cannot cause Covid, are usually mild or moderate and improve within a few days after vaccination.
A health worker holds a box containing the AstraZeneneca vaccine at the Bamrasnaradura Institute of Infectious Diseases in Nonthaburi province on the outskirts of Bangkok.
Chaiwat Subprasom | SOPA Images | LightRocket via Getty Images
The pharmaceutical giant said there were 15 cases of deep vein thrombosis across the EU and the UK and 22 incidents of pulmonary embolism were reported among those vaccinated.
“It is much lower than would be expected to occur naturally in a general population of this magnitude, and is similar to other licensed COVID-19 vaccines,” AstraZeneca said.
What do the experts say?
“Covid certainly causes coagulation disorders and each of the vaccines prevents Covid’s disease, including more severe cases,” said Stephen Evans, professor of pharmacoepidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
“Therefore, it is extremely likely that the benefit of the vaccine outweighs any risk of coagulation disorders and that the vaccine prevents other effects of Covid, including deaths due to other causes.”
Evans said it was “completely reasonable” to do studies on the vaccines and coagulation disorders, but added: “It seems like a step too far to take precautions that will prevent people from getting vaccines that can prevent disease. . “
Many high-income countries – such as the United Kingdom, France, Australia and Canada – have chosen to continue their respective vaccinations against Oxford-AstraZeneca.
“If clear evidence of serious or life-threatening side effects emerges that will have significant consequences,” Adam Finn, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Bristol, said in a statement.
“This has not happened so far, and it is very undesirable to disrupt a complicated and urgent program every time people contract diseases after they have been vaccinated accidentally and not causally. The right call in situations like this is not easy, but getting a steady hand on the handlebars is probably the most necessary, ‘Finn said.