New Delhi: Denmark, Norway and Iceland on Thursday temporarily suspended the use of the temporary AstraZeneca Covid-19 Vaccine, as it postponed blood in patients. K clots have been developing. However, manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies in Europe believe that the vaccine is safe.
The country’s health authority said in a statement that Denmark had previously announced its suspension, “those who received the vaccine have confirmed serious cases of blood clots following the report.” It has been said that the move was a precaution, and “it has not yet been determined that there is a link between the vaccine and the blood clots”.
As of March 9, the European Economic Area (EMA) said that there were 22 cases of blood clots among the more than three million people vaccinated in the European Economic Area.
Austria announced on Monday that it had suspended the use of a batch of AstraZeneca vaccine after the death of a 49-year-old nurse due to “severe blood coagulation problems” 49 days after receiving the anti-cavid shot.
Four other European countries – Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Luxembourg – have also suspended the use of vaccines from this batch, which was sent to 17 European countries and contained one million jabs.
Denmark, however, suspended use of all its AstraZeneca supplies, as Iceland and Norway cited similar concerns in subsequent announcements on Thursday.
On Wednesday, the EMA said preliminary investigations showed that a batch of AstraZeneca vaccines used in Austria could not be blamed for the nurse’s death.
“It’s 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 balance of risk and benefit is still in the vaccine.” Is in favor of. ”
AstraZeneca, the Anglo-Swedish company that developed the vaccine with Oxford University, defended the safety of its product. A spokesperson for the group told AFP, “Phase three clinical trials of vaccine safety and peer-reviewed data confirm that the vaccine is generally well tolerated.”
Britain, whose widely praised vaccine rollout is largely underlined by the AstraZeneca jab, defended it as both ‘safe and effective’.
The health official said that Denmark now expects its entire adult population to be vaccinated by mid-August in early July.