[ 2021-03-16 ]

COVID-19: Continue using AstraZeneca vaccine – WHO
The World Health Organization (WHO) has urged
countries not to pause Covid vaccinations, as
several major EU countries halted their rollouts
of the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab.

It said there was no evidence of a link between
the vaccine and blood clots.

Germany, France, Italy and Spain joined smaller
nations in halting vaccinations as a precaution
while checks are made.

The WHO’s vaccine safety experts are meeting on
Tuesday to discuss the jab.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) will meet on
the same day and is due to draw conclusions on
Thursday. It has also said the vaccine should
continue to be used.

There have been a number of cases in Europe of
blood clots developing after the vaccine was
administered.

However, experts say these were no more than the
number of blood-clot incidents typically reported
within the general population.

About 17 million people in the EU and the UK have
received a dose of the vaccine, with fewer than 40
cases of blood clots reported as of last week,
AstraZeneca said.

What measures are being taken?
Germany’s health ministry announced on Monday
that it would stop administering the
Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine with immediate effect,
on the recommendation of the Paul Ehrlich
Institute (PEI), the country’s authority on
vaccines.

“The background to this decision follows new
reports of cases of cerebral vein thrombosis
connected with an AstraZeneca vaccination,”
Health Minister Jens Spahn said.

“In light of these newly reported cases, the
Paul Ehrlich Institute today re-evaluated the
situation and recommended a suspension of
vaccinations and further analysis.

He said the decision was “not political”.
“All of us are very aware of the consequences of
this decision, and we did not take this decision
lightly,” he added.

Shortly afterwards, French President Emmanuel
Macron said France was suspending the vaccine
until new advice was given by the EMA.

“We have a simple guide, to be informed by
science and the competent heath authorities and to
do it as part of a European strategy,” he said.

And Italy’s medicines agency extended a ban
introduced on individual batches of the vaccine
throughout the country, also pending the EMA
decision.

Spanish Health Minister Carolina Darias said use
of the vaccine would be suspended there for at
least two weeks.

The suspensions came less than a day after the
Netherlands did the same. Its suspension will last
until at least 29 March.

The Irish Republic, Denmark, Norway, Bulgaria and
Iceland have also temporarily halted inoculations
with the vaccine, while the Democratic Republic of
Congo and Indonesia have postponed the launch of
their rollouts.

Several European countries, including Austria,
have suspended the use of certain batches of the
drug as a precautionary measure.

However, Poland, the Czech Republic and Ukraine
said they would continue to administer the
AstraZeneca vaccine.

Thailand announced that it would start using the
vaccine on Tuesday, following a brief delay to the
rollout over safety concerns.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said health
experts had assured him all vaccines being
administered in the country, including
AstraZeneca’s, were safe.

What do the WHO and other experts say?
WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said the body
was investigating the reports.

“As soon as WHO has gained a full understanding
of these events, the findings and any unlikely
changes to current recommendations will be
immediately communicated to the public,” he
said.

“As of today, there is no evidence that the
incidents are caused by the vaccine and it is
important that vaccination campaigns continue so
that we can save lives and stem severe disease
from the virus.”

The EMA – which is also currently carrying out a
review into incidents of blood clots – said the
vaccine could continue to be administered.

The UK medicines regulator also said evidence
“does not suggest” the jab causes clots, as it
urged people in the country to get the vaccine
when asked to do so.

Professor Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford
vaccine group that developed the
Oxford-AstraZeneca jab, told the BBC’s Today
programme there was “very reassuring evidence
that there is no increase in a blood clot
phenomenon here in the UK, where most of the doses
in Europe [have] been given so far”.

While vast numbers of people are being vaccinated
at pace around the world, some of them will still
get sick with other things unrelated to the
vaccine.

These pauses for the AstraZeneca vaccine are not
because it is unsafe to give. It’s to allow time
for experts to explore why a small number of
people who were recently given the shot also
developed blood clots.

When an illness occurs shortly after vaccination,
it is right to question whether the shot might
have contributed in any way.

There is no indication or evidence, however, that
the vaccine was linked or responsible.

In the UK, more than 11 million people have
already received at least one dose of the
AstraZeneca vaccine and there has been no sign of
excess deaths or blood clots occurring. Europe’s
drug regulator has also backed the vaccine, saying
its benefits are clear. Covid can be deadly and
vaccination saves lives.

What did AstraZeneca say?
It said there was no evidence of an increased risk
of clotting due to the vaccine.

It said that across the EU and United Kingdom
there had been 15 events of deep-vein thrombosis
(DVT) – a blood clot in a vein – and 22 events
of pulmonary embolism – a blood clot that has
entered the lungs – reported among those
vaccinated.https://emp.bbc.com/emp/SMPj/2.39.19/iframe.htmlmedia
captionThe front-line doctor photographing the
pandemic

AstraZeneca said these figures were “much lower
than would be expected to occur naturally in a
general population of this size and is similar
across other licensed Covid-19 vaccines”.

“The nature of the pandemic has led to increased
attention in individual cases and we are going
beyond the standard practices for safety
monitoring of licensed medicines in reporting
vaccine events, to ensure public safety,” Ann
Taylor, the firm’s chief medical officer, said.

Source - Happyfm

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