The AstraZeneca vaccine has been temporarily discontinued following reports of thrombosis in some of the vaccinated individuals. the health authorities of Denmark and Norway. The same time, The Italian drug regulator has announced that it is discontinuing vaccines from the lot that was in use in Austria.
Austria discontinues use of a specific batch of AstraZeneca for the duration of the investigation into a death from thrombosis and a case of pulmonary embolism.
Four more countries – Estonia, Lithuania, Luxembourg and Latvia – have stopped using vaccines of this batch for as long as the investigations continue, as broadcast by Reuters and rebroadcast by the Athens News Agency.
“The incidence of cases in vaccinated individuals is equivalent to the incidence in the general population”
Meanwhile, health experts say there is not enough evidence to suggest that AstraZeneca vaccine should not be administered and that the incidence of thrombosis corresponds to the rate of occurrence of such cases in the general population.
“This is an extremely cautious approach based on a number of isolated incidents in Europe”, said Stephen Evans, Professor of Pharmacoeepidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
“The problem with sporadic cases of suspected side effects in a vaccine is the enormous difficulty of distinguishing between an immediate consequence and a coincidence,” he said, adding that Covid-19 has a strong association with blood clots.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) announced yesterday that so far there is no evidence linking the AstraZeneca vaccine to the two cases in Austria.
The EMA said the incidence of thromboembolic events in people who received the AstraZeneca vaccine was no higher than the incidence seen in the general population, with 22 such cases out of the 3 million people who received the vaccine by March 9.
Sweden and Spain continue vaccinations
The Swedish authorities have stated that they do not have enough information to discontinue the vaccination. Sweden has identified two cases of thromboembolic events in people vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine and ten cases in people vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
“We have no reason to reconsider the approval,” said Veronica Arturson, head of the Swedish Pharmaceutical Service. “There is nothing to suggest that this vaccine causes this type of clot.”
Spain has not reported any cases of thrombus formation associated with the AstraZeneca vaccine against Covid-19 so far and will continue to administer the vaccine, announced Health Minister Carolina Daria.
The minister said he had been informed of cases of blood clots forming in people recently vaccinated in Austria, but added that “so far, no link has been established between the vaccine and cases of blood clots” and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) is assessing the situation.
What the European Medicines Agency says
THE European Medicines Agency (EMA) announced today that nothing indicates a risk of developing blood clots in people who have been vaccinated against Covid-19.
“The data available to date show that the number of thromboembolic events among vaccinated individuals is not higher than that observed in the general population.”, referred to in the Communication from the European Regulatory Authority.
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