Several countries suspend AstraZeneca jabs
Denmark has suspended the use of the AstraZeneca jab for two weeks in a precautionary move.
Health authorities in Denmark, Iceland and Norway say they have temporarily suspended the use of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine shots after reports of the formation of blood clots in some who have been vaccinated.
The move comes after Austria stopped using a batch of AstraZeneca shots while investigating a death from coagulation disorders and an illness from a pulmonary embolism.
Danish health authorities said the country's decision to suspend the shots for two weeks came after a 60-year old woman in Denmark, who was given an AstraZeneca shot from the same batch that was used in Austria, formed a blood clot and died.
Danish authorities said they had responded "to reports of possible serious side effects, both from Denmark and other European countries".
"It is currently not possible to conclude whether there is a link. We are acting early, it needs to be thoroughly investigated," Health Minister Magnus Heunicke said on Twitter.
The vaccine would be suspended for 14 days in Denmark.
"This is a cautionary decision," Geir Bukholm, director of infection prevention and control at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI), told a news conference.
FHI did not say how long the suspension would last.
"We... await information to see if there is a link between the vaccination and this case with a blood clot," Bukholm said.
Also on Thursday, Italy said it would suspend use of an AstraZeneca batch that was different to the one used in Austria.
Some health experts said there was little evidence to suggest the AstraZeneca vaccine should not be administered and that the cases of blood clots corresponded with the rate of such cases in the general population.
"This is a super-cautious approach based on some isolated reports in Europe," Stephen Evans, professor of pharmacoepidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, told Reuters.
"The problem with spontaneous reports of suspected adverse reactions to a vaccine are the enormous difficulty of distinguishing a causal effect from a coincidence," he said, adding that the COVID-19 disease was very strongly associated with blood clotting.
AstraZeneca on Thursday told Reuters in a written statement the safety of its vaccine had been extensively studied in human trials and peer-reviewed data had confirmed the vaccine was generally well tolerated.
The drug maker said earlier this week its shots were subject to strict and rigorous quality controls and that there had been "no confirmed serious adverse events associated with the vaccine".
It said it was in contact with Austrian authorities and would fully support their investigation.
The European Union's drug regulator, the European Medicines Agency (EMA), said on Wednesday there was no evidence so far linking AstraZeneca to the two cases in Austria.
It said the number of thromboembolic events - marked by the formation of blood clots - in people who have received the AstraZeneca vaccine is no higher than that seen in the general population, with 22 cases of such events being reported among the 3 million people who have received it as of March 9.
EMA was not immediately available for comment on Thursday.
Four other countries - Estonia, Lithuania, Luxembourg and Latvia - have stopped inoculations from the batch while investigations continue, the EMA said.
The batch of 1 million doses went to 17 EU countries.
Swedish authorities said they did not find sufficient evidence to stop vaccination with AstraZeneca's vaccine.
Sweden has found two cases of "thromboembolic events" in connection with AstraZeneca's vaccine and about ten for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
"We see no reason to revise our recommendation," Veronica Arthurson, head of drug safety at the Swedish Medical Products Agency, told a news conference.
"There is nothing to indicate that the vaccine causes this type of blood clots."
Spain on Thursday said it had not registered any cases of blood clots related to AstraZeneca's vaccine so far and would continue administering the shots.
The UK's medicine regulator says people in the country should keep on getting their COVID-19 vaccines, including the shot developed by Oxford and AstraZeneca, adding that the Danish suspension was precautionary.
The move comes after Austria stopped using a batch of AstraZeneca shots while investigating a death from coagulation disorders and an illness from a pulmonary embolism.
Danish health authorities said the country's decision to suspend the shots for two weeks came after a 60-year old woman in Denmark, who was given an AstraZeneca shot from the same batch that was used in Austria, formed a blood clot and died.
Danish authorities said they had responded "to reports of possible serious side effects, both from Denmark and other European countries".
"It is currently not possible to conclude whether there is a link. We are acting early, it needs to be thoroughly investigated," Health Minister Magnus Heunicke said on Twitter.
The vaccine would be suspended for 14 days in Denmark.
"This is a cautionary decision," Geir Bukholm, director of infection prevention and control at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI), told a news conference.
FHI did not say how long the suspension would last.
"We... await information to see if there is a link between the vaccination and this case with a blood clot," Bukholm said.
Also on Thursday, Italy said it would suspend use of an AstraZeneca batch that was different to the one used in Austria.
Some health experts said there was little evidence to suggest the AstraZeneca vaccine should not be administered and that the cases of blood clots corresponded with the rate of such cases in the general population.
"This is a super-cautious approach based on some isolated reports in Europe," Stephen Evans, professor of pharmacoepidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, told Reuters.
"The problem with spontaneous reports of suspected adverse reactions to a vaccine are the enormous difficulty of distinguishing a causal effect from a coincidence," he said, adding that the COVID-19 disease was very strongly associated with blood clotting.
AstraZeneca on Thursday told Reuters in a written statement the safety of its vaccine had been extensively studied in human trials and peer-reviewed data had confirmed the vaccine was generally well tolerated.
The drug maker said earlier this week its shots were subject to strict and rigorous quality controls and that there had been "no confirmed serious adverse events associated with the vaccine".
It said it was in contact with Austrian authorities and would fully support their investigation.
The European Union's drug regulator, the European Medicines Agency (EMA), said on Wednesday there was no evidence so far linking AstraZeneca to the two cases in Austria.
It said the number of thromboembolic events - marked by the formation of blood clots - in people who have received the AstraZeneca vaccine is no higher than that seen in the general population, with 22 cases of such events being reported among the 3 million people who have received it as of March 9.
EMA was not immediately available for comment on Thursday.
Four other countries - Estonia, Lithuania, Luxembourg and Latvia - have stopped inoculations from the batch while investigations continue, the EMA said.
The batch of 1 million doses went to 17 EU countries.
Swedish authorities said they did not find sufficient evidence to stop vaccination with AstraZeneca's vaccine.
Sweden has found two cases of "thromboembolic events" in connection with AstraZeneca's vaccine and about ten for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
"We see no reason to revise our recommendation," Veronica Arthurson, head of drug safety at the Swedish Medical Products Agency, told a news conference.
"There is nothing to indicate that the vaccine causes this type of blood clots."
Spain on Thursday said it had not registered any cases of blood clots related to AstraZeneca's vaccine so far and would continue administering the shots.
The UK's medicine regulator says people in the country should keep on getting their COVID-19 vaccines, including the shot developed by Oxford and AstraZeneca, adding that the Danish suspension was precautionary.
Note: this is NOT fake news, or intended to cause fear; it is copy and paste from a reputable Oz newspaper so it must be true.
ReplyDeletePeople who work in major hospitals will tell you , every now and then, in a city of 1 million people, somewhere, there will be a few people who get rare serious medical conditions, and a few of them will die. It's been like that since "forever".
ReplyDeleteUnrelated to Covid-19 or vaccines.
Vaccinated 1 million people, and there will be a few such cases , simply in the nature of events.
They really need to look closely at the cause if death, whether it had anything at all to do with the vaccine.
They should use Sinovac vaccine.
ReplyDeleteMuch safer.
More bad & horrendous mRNA vaccines r been suppressed just so to revive the failing economies & confidence of the populace - pending on that elusive herd immunity AS promised under these vaccine inoculation programs.
ReplyDeleteMmmmm… Ides of March! No fire can be hidden by a wall of papers!
use ccp one, its as safe as panadol, cure headache at least.
ReplyDelete50-50 chance the Sinovac vaccinated person will still be vulnerable to Covid-19, according to Brazil's Butantan Vaccine Agency.
DeleteSinovac was approved by Brazil nevertheless, because 50% is better than nothing.
So easy!
DeleteWhen yr chance of vaccine inoculation cones, demand that NO China/Chinese products to be used on u?
Comprehendi?
now under communist regime rule with chairman moo in charge, plus red n green cadres n guards running the show, do we hv a choice like everything but ccp?
DeleteWakakakakaka…
DeleteBolihland has zilch contract to buy ANY Chinese made vaccines from China.
BTW, no point putting any of yr f*cked suggestions to moo cow during yr danger meet. He & many others, just like some of those 台毒dickheads, have already secretly inoculated themselves with the Chinese vaccines from uae - the only place outside China where money can buy those vaccines!
So yr choice?
Not up to u ler! Just remember yr f*cked declaration of ONLY going for Pfizer.
Pray to yr god that yr body immunization wouldn't react with an unexpected cytokinin storm, especially with all the katak genes circulating within that body shell!