The company says it has carried out a “careful analysis” of the data available on people who have received the AstraZeneca vaccine in the UK and EU.
ATstraZeneca says on Sunday that there is “no evidence” that its coronavirus vaccine increases the risk of blood clots, after several countries suspended its use as a precaution.
“About 17 million people in the European Union and UK have now received our vaccine, and the number of blood clot cases reported in this group is lower than the hundreds of cases one would expect in the general population. Said Medical Director Ann Taylor. “The nature of the pandemic has led to an increased focus on individual cases,” she added.
According to the European Medicines Agency (EMA), there is no evidence of a risk of increased blood clotting in people vaccinated against Covid-19. The information available to date also indicates that the number of thromboembolisms in vaccinated people is not higher than that observed in the entire population, she said Thursday.
The World Health Organization (WHO) also says there is no cause for concern.
Ireland, Italy: further disappointments for AstraZeneca’s vaccine
Ireland on Sunday became the fifth country in Europe to suspend the use of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine, a further setback for the Swedish-British laboratory already unable to deliver the quantities promised to the European Union.
While the pandemic has killed at least 2.54 million people worldwide since the end of December 2019, Irish health authorities recommend suspending the use of this vaccine as a “precaution”, after the report in Norway of four new serious cases blood clots in vaccinated adults, no link has yet been proven. Norway, which also reported skin hemorrhages in vaccinated young people on Saturday, suspended the vaccine last week due to clot fears, such as Denmark, Iceland and Bulgaria. Both Thailand and the Republic of Congo have postponed their vaccination campaigns.
After a brief suspension of AstraZena vaccinations on Sunday, following the death of a teacher vaccinated the day before, the Italian region of Piedmont (north-west) decided to resume them after checks, however, as a precaution, excluding a batch of vaccines from the Anglo laboratory -Swedish. The president of the Italian Medicines Agency (Aifa), Giorgio Palu, assured that the AstraZeneca vaccine presented “no risk”, believing that “the benefits greatly exceed the risks” and calling for going beyond “emotionality” and be based on “science”.