Some European countries have temporarily suspended the use of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine after raising concerns over the risk of blood clots in patients who have received a dose.
Germany,
France, Italy, and Spain have become the latest countries to suspend using AstraZeneca
vaccine, joining Ireland, Denmark, Thailand, the Netherlands, Norway, Iceland,
Congo, and Bulgaria.
- A 60-year
old Danish woman who died of a blood clot after receiving AstraZeneca's
COVID-19 vaccine had "highly unusual" symptoms, the Danish Medicines
Agency said late on Sunday. It said the woman had a low number of blood
platelets and clots in small and large vessels, as well as bleeding.
- One
Austrian woman died from "severe blood coagulation problems", 10 days
after receiving the vaccine but no clear link has been made between the
administration of her jab and her death a full inquiry is ongoing.
- Two
Italians are thought to have died shortly after receiving the vaccine.
- Last week
the Norwegian Medicines Agency said that it was investigating an unexpected
fatal brain haemorrhage in a patient who had received the AstraZeneca jab as
well as “several” reports of symptoms that could be a sign of reduced blood
platelet counts.
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- On Saturday, Norwegian authorities reported that four people under the age of 50 who had received the AstraZeneca vaccine had an unusually low number of blood platelets, which could lead to severe bleeding.
- Over the
weekend The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said it had received “three more
reports of severe cases of blood clots or brain haemorrhages in younger people
who have received the AstraZeneca vaccine”.
European vaccination programmes have been upset in the last two weeks by reports that recipients of the AstraZeneca inoculation have suffered blood clots.
it is known
that blood clots that form in the arms, legs or elsewhere can sometimes break
free and travel to the heart, brain or lungs, causing strokes, heart attacks or
a deadly blockage of blood flow.
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Covid-19
vaccines are still experimental, scientists must investigate every possibility
that the shot could have some unforeseen side effects. The shots are considered
experimental because the vaccines were only developed in the last year, so
there is no long-term data for any of them.
AstraZeneca
said on Sunday that out of 17 million people who have received its vaccine
across the UK and the EU, there have been 15 cases of deep vein thrombosis and
22 events of pulmonary thrombosis (both serious blood clotting disorders).
The drug
company said these numbers were “much lower than would be expected to occur
naturally in a general population of this size”.
The European
Medicines Agency (EMA) said suspending use of the AstraZeneca vaccine is
"a precaution taken in the light of their national situation.” But the EMA
as well as the World Health Organization said data does not show the vaccine
caused the clots and people should keep getting vaccinated with it because the
benefit outweighs the risk.
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“People die every day, and we have more than 300 million people globally who have been immunised who will die of other causes,” said Dr. Mariangela Simao, an assistant director-general at the WHO.
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