Lithuanian leaders vote of confidence in AstraZeneca vaccine

The President, the Prime Minister and the Speaker of the Lithuanian Parliament received today, Monday (22/3) the AstraZeneca vaccine against Covid-19, in a sign of confidence in the pharmaceutical industry after its suspension was suspended for two days last week.

Fewer Europeans trust the AstraZeneca vaccine after reports from several countries of side effects, such as blood clots, according to a YouCov poll released today, according to the APE-MPE, although scientific research has found it to be safe and effective.

The Prime Minister of Lithuania Ingrida Simonite He told reporters that the country’s leadership wanted to show confidence in the vaccine after suspending its use last Wednesday and Thursday, ahead of a report by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) on its safety.

“Doubts slowed down the vaccination,” Simonite told reporters after her vaccination. “I’m really sorry this happened, but for some reason this vaccine lacks confidence.”

Her government reversed an earlier decision to allow the country’s leaders to wait their turn to be vaccinated along with the rest of the country’s population. Lithuania currently vaccinates only those over 65 years of age.

The country is unlikely to meet its target of vaccinating 70% of the population by July, Simonite said, citing supply disruptions in European Union countries.

The 141 members of the Lithuanian parliament will also be vaccinated this week, after his attempt to work online after the end of his vacation on March 10 proved unproductive.

Meanwhile, the Icelandic health authorities announced today that they will wait before a possible resumption of vaccinations against COVID-19 with the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is nevertheless considered “safe and effective” by the European regulatory authority.

The Nordic countries decided to investigate the matter better

“All the north [σκανδιναβικές] countries, including Iceland, have decided to better investigate the matter and to work together before proceeding with vaccination with AstraZeneca, which was stopped on March 11 on the island “, explained in a press conference Alma Meller, general manager of the Health sector.

“Next, we will try to assess whether the risk varies according to age and gender, for example, and this will then be the basis for decisions to continue using the AstraZeneca vaccine,” he said.

Iceland’s decision was made pending the results of an assessment of the Nordic countries in terms of buying the side effects of vaccines – not just the Swedish AstraZeneca – against COVID-19, he explained.

European regulator EMA, however, ruled on Thursday (March 18th) that vaccinations with the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is “safe and effective” and is not associated with an increased risk of blood clots, should be continued, prompting many countries to announce the resumption of vaccinations.

The Amsterdam-based European agency, however, said it could not “permanently rule out” a link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and rare thrombosis problems.

Despite the green light from the EMA, Norway, Sweden and Denmark have chosen to make re-vaccination dependent on more intensive evaluations for rare but serious thrombosis problems that have occurred in people who have been vaccinated.

Finland, which had not previously suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, also decided on Friday to stop using it for “precautionary reasons” after two suspected cases of brain thrombosis.

Iceland, where almost 38,000 people have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, has had four cases of post-vaccination blood clots: two after the AstraZeneca vaccine, one after the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine and one after the administration of the Moderna vaccine, according to the authorities.