DUBLIN (Reuters) – Ireland on Sunday became the latest country to stop using AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, temporarily suspending the shot “out of caution” following reports from Norway of severe blood clots at some recipients there.
Three health workers in Norway who recently received the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine are being treated in hospital for bleeding, blood clots and a low platelet count, his health authorities said on Saturday.
The National Immunization Advisory Committee of Ireland (NIAC) has recommended the temporary postponement pending the receipt of more information from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in the coming days.
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AstraZeneca said on Sunday it had conducted a study that vaccinated more than 17 million people in the European Union and the UK, which showed no evidence of an increased risk of blood clots.
Denmark, Norway and Iceland suspended the use of the vaccine due to clotting issues, while Thailand became the first country outside Europe to do so on Friday, delaying the rollout of AstraZeneca over security issues in Europe.
In the northern region of Piedmont, Italy, said on Sunday that they would no longer use AstraZeneca vaccines, after a teacher died on Saturday after his vaccination. Austria also stopped using a specific group last week.
The EMA said on Friday that there was no indication that the events were caused by the vaccination, a view expressed by the World Health Organization.
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Irish authorities have received some reports of coagulation similar to those seen in Europe last week, but nothing as serious as the cases in Norway, said Ronan Glynn, deputy chief executive.
Glynn said the fact that the Norwegian cases were related to a group of four unusual clotting events in which the brain involved 30 to 40-year-olds raised the greater concern.
He said one of the reasons Ireland is acting now is to administer the AstraZeneca vaccine next week to people of a similar age with severe underlying conditions.
“It may not be anything, we may be reacting and I sincerely hope that in a week’s time we will be accused of being too careful,” Glynn told national broadcaster RTE.
“Hopefully in a few short days we will have data to reassure us, and we will be able to get started with this again.”
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AstraZeneca vaccinations account for 20% of the 590,000 shots given to Ireland’s 4.9 million people, mainly to health workers after initial use was not initially recommended for those over 70, and the company has far fewer vaccines provided by the EU as agreed.
There were 4,534 COVID-19-related deaths in Ireland. The number of cases per 100,000 people in the past 14 days has dropped to 151 from a peak of more than 1,500 in January, although officials are worried about a slight increase in new cases in recent days.
Northern Ireland’s Deputy Prime Minister Michelle O’Neill has also expressed concern about the suspension of AstraZeneca elsewhere. In response to Ireland’s decision, the UK’s medical regulator said the available evidence did not suggest the vaccine was the cause of the blood clots, although the reports were being carefully reviewed.
Like the rest of the UK, Northern Ireland is much further in its program and has vaccinated more than 40% of the adult population, relying heavily on AstraZeneca’s vaccine.
Reporting by Padraic Halpin, Editing by Bernadette Baum, Louise Heavens and Jane Merriman