Over 30 episodes of blood clotting and reports of three deaths after receiving the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine has led to over nine European nations suspending the use of the vaccine for an interim period. This is the same vaccine that is being manufactured by Serum Institute of India and is branded as Covishield in the country.
Austria, Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, and Norway have decided to go ahead with their decision of suspending the AstraZeneca vaccine despite the preliminary findings of the European Medical Regulatory watchdog suggesting that the vaccine was not linked to these blood clotting events.
Even the World Health Organization has asked the rollout to be continued and not suspend the use of the vaccine, reported AFP. This vaccine is a part of the WHO's COVAX facility which it has formed in collaboration with CEPI, GAVI, and UNICEF to ensure equitable access of the COVID-19 vaccine across the world.
Medical officials from France and Germany have stated that they will continue using the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine as the medical regulator has ruled out the role of the vaccine in the recent events. UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has also stated that they will not be halting the roll out of the vaccine as close to 11 million people have been vaccinated with the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in the country.
France 24 reported that AstraZeneca on Thursday said the safety of its vaccine had been extensively studied in human trials and peer-reviewed data had confirmed the vaccine was generally well tolerated.
Why Has The AstraZeneca Vaccine Rollout Been Halted
While the Danish medical representatives have announced that a link between the vaccine and the death of the woman who passed away due to a blood clot after getting vaccinated has not been established, the country is still choosing to suspend the roll out for a period of two weeks as a precautionary measure.
Norway, another Nordic country, has followed suit even though they have not reported any such events.
Both Austria and Italy also decided to halt the rollout of the vaccine after deaths were reported in both the countries among people who were vaccinated but died due to thromboembolic events.
The MHRA has also justified its reason for continuing with the use of the vaccine. " Blood clots are common. About one in thousand are diagnosed with them in the country every year."
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Luxembourg had already suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine.