March 11, 2021
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Buckholm does not report any relevant financial information.
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Several European countries, including Denmark and Norway, suspended AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine due to reports of blood clots in vaccines.
A statement by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said there was “currently no evidence” that the AstraZeneca vaccine caused a fatal blood clot in one person in Austria or a pulmonary embolism in another person in Austria who is recovering . These conditions “are not listed as side effects with this vaccine,” said the EMA.
According to the European Medicines Agency, there is currently no evidence that the AstraZeneca vaccine caused a fatal blood clot in a Danish patient who was given the vaccine.
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The EMA said it was studying the batch the vaccine came from, which was shipped to 17 countries in the European Union.
The Danish and Norwegian health authorities said they would wait to see if there was a link between the vaccine and the blood clots. Both authorities cited a report of the death of a person in Denmark from a blood clot after receiving the vaccine as the reason for interrupting the rollout.
“This break does not mean that we advise against vaccination with AstraZeneca in the future.” Geir Bukholm, MD, The director of the Infection Control and Environmental Health Department at the Norwegian Public Health Institute said in a press release. “The AstraZeneca vaccine is well documented and it is also important to have sufficient doses to ensure the protection of as many people as possible in the risk groups as early as possible. We are in a situation of increasing transmission where protecting yourself from COVID-19 disease is becoming increasingly important. “
Head of the Danish Health Authority Søren Brostrøm, MD, The attitude is a “clear indication” that the country’s vaccine surveillance system is working.
“It is important to emphasize that we are in no way discarding the AstraZeneca vaccine,” Brostrøm said in a statement. “We just stop using it for now. There is strong evidence that the vaccine is both safe and effective. However, the Danish Health Authority and the Danish Medicines Agency must respond immediately to reports from Denmark and other European countries about possible serious side effects. “
References:
Danish Health Authority. Vaccination with AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine has been suspended until further notice. https://www.sst.dk/de/English/news/2021/Vaccination-with-the-COVID-19-vaccine-from-AstraZeneca-is-put-on-hold-until-further-notice. Accessed March 11, 2021.
EMA. COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca: The PRAC’s preliminary view does not suggest a specific problem with the batch used in Austria. https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/news/covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca-prac-preliminary-view-suggests-no-specific-issue-batch-used-austria. Accessed March 11, 2021.
Norwegian Institute for Public Health. Vaccination with AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19 suspended. https://www.fhi.no/en/news/2021/vaksinasjon-med-astrazeneca-vaksinen-mot-covid-19-settes-pa-pause/. Accessed March 11, 2021.
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Amesh A. Adalja, MD
In assessing this type of message, it is important to separate temporal associations from causal ones. While it is important to study these reactions, I suspect that no causal link is found and that the AstraZeneca vaccine is shown to be safe and effective.
Amesh A. Adalja, MD
Senior Scholar
Johns Hopkins Center for Health Safety
Disclosure: Adalja does not report any relevant financial information.
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