WHO assessing reports of rare blood clots faced by people treated with AstraZeneca vaccine
Posted March 12, 2021 1:04 pm.
Last Updated March 12, 2021 2:24 pm.
Officials in several European countries pushed back Friday against decisions by others to pause the use of AstraZeneca’s vaccine following sporadic reports of blood clots, despite a lack of evidence the shot was responsible.
German Health Minister Jens Spahn said that while the country takes reports of possible harmful effects from vaccines “very, very seriously,” both the European Medicines Agency and Germany’s own vaccine oversight body have said they have no evidence of an increase in dangerous blood clots in connection with the shots.
“I regret that on the basis of the knowledge, as of Friday morning, some countries in the European Union have suspended vaccinations with AstraZeneca,” Spahn told reporters in Berlin.
Denmark was the first to temporarily halt the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine Thursday after reports of blood clots in some people. The Nordic nation’s health authority said the decision was “based on a precautionary principle” and that one person who developed a blood clot after vaccination had died.
Norway, Iceland, and Bulgaria followed suit and suspended the use of the Anglo-Swedish company’s vaccine, which was developed with the University of Oxford.
“Until all doubts are dispelled and experts guarantee that it holds no risk for people, we are stopping immunization using that vaccine,” Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov told a Cabinet meeting.
The regulator has said it is looking into the reports – but that vaccinations should continue in the meantime.
That decision followed the death from blood clots of a 49-year-old 10 days after she had been vaccinated, and the hospitalization of a 35-year-old woman.
Experts concluded neither complication was related to the vaccine, and Austria’s chancellor said Friday that he, himself, would be willing to receive the shot “to show that I have trust in this vaccine.”
In fact, nearly every country that issued a suspension acknowledged that it had no evidence the vaccine had caused the blood clots. Health experts have pointed out that the people most likely to currently be receiving COVID-19 vaccinations are also more likely to have other health problems, which could put them at higher risk for blood clots.
The World Health Organization (WHO) granted an emergency use listing for the coronavirus vaccine made by Johnson & Johnson, meaning the one-dose shot can be used as part of the international COVAX effort to distribute vaccines globally, including to developing countries with no supplies.
No biological explanation to tie AstraZeneca vaccine to blood clots: Health Canada
Health Canada’s chief medical adviser says there is no scientific explanation to suggest a link between the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine and blood clots.
Dr. Supriya Sharma says Health Canada has a “really low threshold” for adverse events that could trigger a pause on the use of a vaccine and wouldn’t hesitate to do so if something warranted it.
Health Canada says the vaccine remains safe and effective but will continue to monitor all adverse events.
Sharma says Health Canada has the reports and is looking for three things, including if there is a biological explanation for how the vaccine could have caused the blood clots.
She says there is none.
With files from Mia Rabson of The Canadian Press
