There has been a surge in the number of European countries that have suspended the use of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine due to severe blood clotting issues in some patients, AP News reported.
Why European countries suspended the AstraZeneca vaccine?
Sweden and Latvia are the latest among the many countries to stop the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Previously, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Denmark, Norway, and the Netherlands suspended using AstraZeneca as they wanted time for the European Medicines Agency to evaluate the latest data after several reports of blood-clotting incidents.
However, AstraZeneca and international regulators dismissed the assertion saying there was no proof to blame the vaccine jab.
According to Britain’s regulator, they are analyzing the situation but said that people should get their vaccine.
“We are closely reviewing reports but given a large number of doses administered, and the frequency at which blood clots can occur naturally, the evidence available does not suggest the vaccine is the cause,” said Phil Bryan, vaccines safety lead at the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.
The European Medicines Agency said, “The number of thromboembolic events overall in vaccinated people seems not to be higher than that seen in the general population.”
No evidence of blood clots
Whereas, AstraZeneca said there is “no evidence” that the blood clots incidents are associated with the vaccine. The company also said that only 37 reports of blood clots emerged out of approximately 17 million people vaccinated in the European Union and Britain.
The following countries have suspended use of the AstraZeneca vaccine as of now:
Sweden
Sweden’s health agency on March 16 decided to suspend the use of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine as a precautionary measure. There were 10 cases of blood clots and one report of low-level platelets among vaccinated people, according to the Swedish Medical Products Agency.
Latvia
The government health agencies in Latvia temporarily suspended the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine for two weeks as an additional precaution. However, the country did not report any blood-clotting cases among people who received the vaccine.
Others
The list of countries that have suspended AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine include:
- France,
- Germany,
- Italy,
- Spain,
- Luxembourg,
- Cyprus,
- Portugal,
- Slovenia,
- Indonesia,
- Netherlands,
- Ireland,
- Bulgaria,
- The Democratic Republic of the Congo,
- Thailand, (Lifted – as the Prime minister took a jab today)
- Romania,
- Iceland,
- Denmark,
- Norway,
- Austria,
- Estonia and
- Lithuania also halted the use of the batch
