[ 2021-03-16 ]

UK defends Oxford Covid vaccine over fears of blood clots
British and European regulators rushed to the
defence of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine
last night as six more countries stopped using it
over unconfirmed links to blood clots.

Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and
Portugal announced temporary pauses pending an
investigation by the European Medicines Agency
(EMA), which is due to report by Thursday.

However, the European regulator said blood clots
seemed to be no more common among people who had
received the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab and insisted
that the benefits of it “outweigh the risks of
side-effects”.

Boris Johnson reiterated his support for the
Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine on a visit to Coventry,
where he toured the National Express depot
Boris Johnson reiterated his support for the
Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine on a visit to Coventry,
where he toured the National Express depot


The UK Medicines and Healthcare Products
Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said it did not think the
jab caused blood clots after studying data on 11
million people given it in Britain, and Boris
Johnson also supported the vaccine.

A spokesman for the World Health Organisation
(WHO) said there was no evidence the vaccine
caused blood clots and urged countries to keep
using it.

It means Britain and large European countries are
again divided over the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine,
which is widely mistrusted on the Continent after
rows about efficacy in older people. Ireland,
Denmark, Norway, Bulgaria and Iceland have also
temporarily stopped using it, delaying vaccination
programmes that are already far behind
Britain’s.

In other developments:

• Britain recorded 64 deaths yesterday, with the
seven-day total down by 29.6 per cent. There were
5,089 new cases, with the seven-day total 2.3 per
cent lower than the previous week.

• The Office for National Statistics said more
deaths were caused by Covid-19 in 2020 than have
been attributed to an infectious disease in any
year for more than a century.

• The governor of the Bank of England said the
economy would return to its pre-Covid size by the
end of the year.

• Experts said urgent action was needed to stop
cancer deaths rising for the first time in
decades.

• Ministers announced that Portugal would be
removed from a “red list” of banned
destinations, signalling the go-ahead for holidays
this summer.

All people over 56 have been invited to have the
jab, at sites such as the community vaccination
centre at Kingston University’s Penrhyn Road
campus
All people over 56 have been invited to have the
jab, at sites such as the community vaccination
centre at Kingston University’s Penrhyn Road
campus

The EMA said last week that it had been alerted to
30 cases of blood clots, including one death,
among five million people who had been given the
Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. Last night it stressed
that “many thousands of people develop blood
clots annually in the EU for different reasons”
and the number among vaccinated people “seems
not to be higher than that in the general
population”.

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Jens Spahn, Germany’s health minister, said the
suspension had been imposed as a “purely
precautionary measure”, after the country’s
vaccines agency said further cases had come to
light.

President Macron of France said the suspension had
been imposed “as a precaution, hoping that we
can resume its use quickly if the EMA allows”.

Source - The Times, UK

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