LONDON – The Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine is safe to use, the European Medicines Agency said on Thursday after a number of countries, including Germany, France and Italy, suspended it over concerns about blood clots in some recipients.
The finding came just two days after the regulator on Tuesday said it was reviewing new information and found that there was “no indication” that there was a link between AstraZeneca’s vaccine and blood clotting. It added that the benefits of the vaccine still outweigh the risks.
The decisive decision came at a time when the European Union is in the midst of a shortage of vaccines and in the midst of a growing feud with the US and Britain over the handling of deliveries to the bloc of 27 countries.
AstraZeneca said on Sunday that a review of safety data from more than 17 million people who gave the vaccine in the UK and the European Union showed no evidence of an increased risk of blood clots.
The deployment of the European Union vaccine has been hampered by shortages and before Thursday’s announcement, France and Italy said they would resume vaccinations with the AstraZeneca vaccine should the regulator decide that there are no problems with the vaccine. .
The regional director for Europe of the World Health Organization, Hans Kluge, said in a separate press release on Thursday that countries should continue to use the AstraZeneca vaccine for the time being.
“As of now, we do not know if some or all of the conditions were caused by the vaccine or by other accidental factors,” Kluge said. “At this stage, however, the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine outweigh the risks – and its use should continue to save lives.”
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According to Kluge, the acquisition and maintenance of public trust is ‘crucial’.
“We need to renew confidence when it’s lost, to repair it – especially for AstraZeneca,” he said.
Kluge’s comments were reiterated by the African Union, which on Thursday recommended that countries continue to use the vaccine developed by the British-Swedish drugmaker, which is still authorized to use in the US
Africa has lagged behind rich countries in vaccinations, and many countries on the continent are using free AstraZeneca shots distributed by COVAX, a global scheme led by the WHO to launch vaccination campaigns.
