{"id":180855,"date":"2021-03-15T12:00:41","date_gmt":"2021-03-15T12:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=180855"},"modified":"2021-03-12T08:41:55","modified_gmt":"2021-03-12T08:41:55","slug":"covid-several-european-countries-halt-use-of-astrazeneca-vaccine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2021\/03\/covid-several-european-countries-halt-use-of-astrazeneca-vaccine\/","title":{"rendered":"COVID: Several European Countries Halt Use of Astrazeneca Vaccine"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"post-content\">\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"intro\"><em>Denmark, Iceland and Norway have stopped administering the shot while Italy has banned the use of a batch of AstraZeneca doses as a precaution after an unconfirmed number of people developed blood clots.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/covid-vaccine.jpg\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-180857\" src=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/covid-vaccine.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/covid-vaccine.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/covid-vaccine-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>11 Mar 2021 &#8211; <\/em>Health authorities in Denmark, Norway and Iceland on Thursday suspended the use of AstraZeneca&#8217;s COVID-19 vaccine after\u00a0reports of blood clots among\u00a0some\u00a0people who had received the inoculation.<\/p>\n<p>The Danish Health Authority on Thursday <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/covid-19-vaccine-development-whats-the-progress\/a-55648707\" >halted the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine<\/a>\u00a0for 14 days.<\/p>\n<p>It follows reports of &#8220;serious cases of blood clots among vaccinated people,&#8221; a statement read.<\/p>\n<p>However, the authority stopped short of saying there was a direct link between the vaccine and the blood clots, &#8220;at the time being.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It is currently not possible to conclude whether there is a link. We are acting early, it needs to be thoroughly investigated,&#8221; Danish Health Minister Magnus Heunicke said on Twitter.<\/p>\n<p>Polly Roy, a virologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, told DW that she believes the clots were, however, &#8220;probably not due to the vaccine itself.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Maybe they have some underlying problem,&#8221; said Roy.<\/p>\n<h2>How many countries have suspended the jab?<\/h2>\n<p>Shortly after Denmark&#8217;s announcement, Iceland and Norway followed suit and stopped administering the vaccine.<\/p>\n<p>Italy also moved on Thursday to ban a batch of the AstraZeneca vaccine following reports &#8220;of some serious adverse effects.&#8221; The country&#8217;s medicine regulator stressed, however, that there was currently no established link between the alleged side-effects and the administration of doses.<\/p>\n<div class=\"picBox full\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/compass.pressekompass.net\/compasses\/deutschewelleeng\/would-you-get-an-astrazeneca-vaccine-sho-jK54Mj\" width=\"700\" height=\"394\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<h2>Danish, EU authorities launch an investigation<\/h2>\n<p>The Danish Medicines Agency said it had\u00a0launched <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/fewer-europeans-trust-astrazeneca-vaccine-yougov-poll\/a-56799922\" >an investigation into the vaccine.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The probe is being carried out by\u00a0corresponding agencies in other EU-countries as well as the\u00a0European Medicines Agency (EMA).<\/p>\n<p>The EMA is in charge of the evaluation and supervision of medicinal products across the 27-member EU.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Both we and the Danish Medicines Agency have to respond to reports of possible serious side-effects, both from Denmark and other European countries,&#8221; the director of the Danish Health Authority, Soren Brostrom, said in a statement.<\/p>\n<div class=\"picBox full\nrechts\n\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/covid-several-european-countries-halt-use-of-astrazeneca-vaccine\/a-56835406#\" class=\"overlayLink init\"  rel=\"nofollow\"> <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"a man receives a vaccine in a mobile clinic\" src=\"https:\/\/static.dw.com\/image\/56786269_401.jpg\" alt=\"a man receives a vaccine in a mobile clinic\" \/> <\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Many people in Germany are reluctant to get the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2>What EMA and AstraZeneca said about the vaccine<\/h2>\n<p>AstraZeneca said its shots are subject to strict and rigorous quality controls, adding that\u00a0there have been &#8220;no confirmed serious adverse events associated with the vaccine.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There is currently no indication that vaccination has caused these conditions, which are not listed as side effects with this vaccine,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ema.europa.eu\/en\/news\/covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca-prac-investigating-cases-thromboembolic-events-vaccines-benefits\" class=\"icon external\"  target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">the EMA said in a statement.<\/a>\u00a0&#8220;The vaccine\u2019s benefits continue to outweigh its risks.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>On Monday, Austria\u00a0stopped\u00a0<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/eu-seeks-us-supplies-of-astrazeneca-vaccine-report\/a-56793089\" >using AstraZeneca shots<\/a>\u00a0while investigating a death from coagulation disorders and an illness from a pulmonary embolism.<\/p>\n<p>The EMA found no evidence linking the Austrian cases to the AstraZeneca vaccine, the agency said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>It said the number of thromboembolic events \u2014\u00a0marked by the formation of blood clots \u2014\u00a0in people who have received the AstraZeneca vaccine is no higher than that seen in the general population.<\/p>\n<p>Estonia, Lithuania, Luxembourg and Latvia have also halted inoculations with the vaccine while the investigation continues.<\/p>\n<h2>France and Spain continue AstraZeneca rollout<\/h2>\n<p>Spain and France, meanwhile, said the AstraZeneca vaccine would continue to be administered to citizens in the respective countries.<\/p>\n<p>Spanish Health Minister Carolina Darias said her country would still\u00a0use\u00a0the vaccine and had not discovered any cases of blood clots related to it.<\/p>\n<p>And French Health Minister\u00a0Olivier Veran said: &#8220;There is no need to suspend AstraZeneca.\u00a0The upside of vaccinations at this stage outweighs the risks.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>There had been 22 cases of such events being reported among the 3 million people who have received the AstraZeneca shot as of March 9.<\/p>\n<h2>AstraZeneca vaccine use in Europe<\/h2>\n<p>A delivery of 1 million doses of the vaccine\u00a0developed by the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company vaccine\u00a0went to 17 EU countries.<\/p>\n<p>A lack of efficacy data on its use in people over 65 has led to several health authorities limiting its use.<\/p>\n<p>Germany&#8217;s\u00a0independent Standing Committee on Vaccination (Stiko) recently\u00a0<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/germany-says-astrazeneca-vaccine-ok-for-over-65s-after-all\/a-56771381\" >approved the AstraZeneca<\/a> for use in people of all ages after new data was released.<\/p>\n<p>However, <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/covid-astrazeneca-vaccine-remains-unpopular-in-germany\/a-56630827\" >many AstraZeneca doses are going unused<\/a>\u00a0in Germany due to worries that the vaccine\u00a0is less effective against virus mutations.<\/p>\n<p>South Africa halted the rollout of the vaccine due to a trial\u00a0<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/south-africa-suspends-rollout-of-oxford-astrazeneca-coronavirus-vaccine\/a-56491411\" >showing it was less effective<\/a> against the South African B.1.351 COVID variant.<\/p>\n<p><em>wmr,kmm,jsi\/rt (AFP, Reuters)<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/covid-several-european-countries-halt-use-of-astrazeneca-vaccine\/a-56835406\" >Go to Original &#8211; dw.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>11 Mar 2021 &#8211; Denmark, Iceland and Norway have stopped administering the shot while Italy has banned the use of a batch of AstraZeneca doses as a precaution after an unconfirmed number of people developed blood clots. Estonia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia and Austria are the other countries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":180857,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2124],"tags":[1829,1868,1268,888],"class_list":["post-180855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-debates-on-covid-vaccines","tag-coronavirus","tag-covid-19","tag-european-union","tag-vaccines"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180855"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180855\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/180857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}