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Have European countries made a mistake in halting AstraZeneca shots? Here’s what health experts say
Within the space of a few days, the rollout of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine has ground to a standstill in virtually all of western Europe.
France, Spain, Germany, Italy and more than a dozen other countries have paused rollout of the shot, calling it a precautionary measure following concerns that it could be linked to blood clots; decisions that go against the advice of global health agencies.
A few countries have stood by the vaccine including the United Kingdom, where more than 11 million doses have already been administered, and where real-world data has shown vaccines are reducing infections and hospitalizations.
2021-03-17 15:36:03 GMT2021-03-17 23:36:03(Beijing Time) Xinhua English
TALLINN, March 17 (Xinhua) At least 20 European countries have fully or partially suspended the use of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine following reports of suspected deaths from blood clots after vaccination, which prompted the European Medicines Agency (EMA) s investigation and the World Health Organization (WHO) s safety review.
On Tuesday, Sweden joined countries like Bulgaria, Denmark, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, the Netherlands, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Slovenia, Cyprus and Portugal to suspend the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
The Public Health Agency s move came out of concerns of potential serious side effects, including blood clots in combination with low levels of platelets that have been observed in a few younger individuals following vaccination, said Swedish epidemiologist Anders Tegnell.
Link between cerebral blood clots and AstraZeneca vaccine not implausible , says German regulator
Number of a certain type of blood clot was statistically significantly higher than the expected figure, the regulator said
17 March 2021 • 1:03pm
17 European countries have suspended their AstraZeneca vaccine campaigns
Credit: Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters
The number of people suffering cerebral blood clots after receiving the AstraZeneca jab in Germany was “statistically significantly higher” than the number that would have been expected in the general population, according to a report from the German vaccine regulator.
The document from the Paul Ehrlich Institute explains the rationale behind the country’s decision to suspend the AstraZeneca jab, alongside 16 other countries including France, Italy and Spain, after reports of people suffering blood clots post-vaccination.