[News] Germany, Spain and France join seven other European countries that have suspended the AstraZeneca vaccine

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So far Italy, the Netherlands, Ireland, Bulgaria, Denmark, Norway and Iceland have taken the same action.

Several European countries, including Germany, France, Italy and Spain, have today decided to preventively suspend vaccination against the coronavirus with the preparation of the Anglo-Swedish company AstraZeneca after the detection of several cases of thrombosis and the death of one of the affected people, a Norwegian health worker, hospitalized after receiving the first dose.

In any case, the countries that have suspended the application of the AstraZeneca vaccine have left the final decision in the hands of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), which will make a specific decision on the matter on the 18th.

For the moment, the countries that have decided to suspend vaccination with the AstraZeneca preparation are Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Ireland, Spain, Bulgaria, Denmark, Norway and Iceland, while Austria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Luxembourg withdrew a specific lot when detecting cases of thrombosis.

The EMA recommended last week to continue administering the preparation - about which from the beginning there were doubts about its effectiveness - considering that "the benefits" continued to "outweigh the risks."

 

Germany awaiting the opinion of the EMA
The decision of the German Government follows a recommendation from the Paul Ehrlich Institute (PEI), competent in the matter, which considers that it is necessary to verify the potential relationship between this vaccine and the new cases of thrombosis registered in Europe after its inoculation.

However, the German Ministry of Health pointed out that it will in any case be the European Medicines Agency that ultimately decides "if this new information affects the authorization of the vaccine and in what way."

The German Minister of Health, Jens Spahn, stressed today that the suspension of the AstraZeneca vaccine is "preventive" and stressed that it is an "absolutely technical and not political" decision with important repercussions, in which the safety of the po[CENSORED]tion and "transparency" and stressed that there are "very few" cases with problems.

Spahn stressed that it is also important to weigh the effect of suspending the use of this vaccine due to the cases of thrombosis that have been detected, since "not vaccinating also has a cost."

 

France temporarily suspends vaccination with the drug
French President Emmanuel Macron announced today that France is temporarily suspending the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, pending the opinion of the EMA.

Macron clarified that the decision, which follows the one taken this Monday by other European countries, has been taken as a precaution and following the recommendation of the French Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, in coordination with the French health authorities.

"We hope to be able to resume it quickly, if the opinion of the EMA allows it," added the French head of state.

 

Italy suspends vaccine as a precaution
Italy today suspended vaccination with AstraZeneca as a precaution after recent cases of thrombosis in Europe, sources from the Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA) confirmed to Efe.

The decision is made after last week the AIFA suspended the inoculation of a batch of this vaccine, after the death of a soldier and a policeman in Sicily (south), which the Italian Justice is investigating.

“The AIFA has decided to extend the ban on the use of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine throughout the country as a precautionary measure and temporarily, pending the opinion of the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

 

Spain suspends the vaccine for 15 days

Spain is going to suspend vaccination with the AstraZeneca compound for 15 days, according to sources present at the emergency meeting of the Interterritorial Health Council, convened to deal with this matter, informed Efe.

Ireland: 30,000 people go without the AstraZeneca vaccine

The Irish Government confirmed today that some 30,000 people will not be vaccinated this week with the AstraZeneca preparation, after temporarily suspending its administration when four new cases of thrombi were detected.

Irish Health Minister Stephen Donnelly indicated that he is confident that the EMA will present a "positive report" on the AstraZeneca vaccine, with a view to including it again in the vaccination campaign.

 

30 cases of thrombosis out of 5 million doses applied in the EU

The EMA has so far identified around thirty cases of thrombosis following a dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine. In total, some five million doses have been administered in the European Union (EU). At the same time, he pointed out that the rate of thrombosis among those vaccinated "is not higher than that of the po[CENSORED]tion as a whole", but added that it is necessary to analyze what happened in detail.

AstraZeneca's formula is the third authorized in the EU, behind BioNTech / Pfizer and Moderna.

The head of the EMA's biological threats to health and vaccines unit, Marco Cavaleri, reiterated today that this organization maintains that the benefit of being vaccinated with the AstraZeneca formula continues to outweigh its risks.

“We are developing a rapid review of all the evidence regarding thromboembolic events with this vaccine to ensure the benefit and risk of its use. We do not believe that, as of now, the evidence we have shows an emerging risk affecting your benefits. The benefit-risk is still considered positive and we do not see any problem in continuing the vaccination campaign with it ”, explained Cavaleri in the European Parliament.

 

MHRA does not see a relationship between the vaccine and cases of thrombosis

The British drug regulatory agency (MHRA) said Monday that the existing evidence does not suggest that the AstraZeneca vaccine causes thrombi in its receptors, something the pharmaceutical company also defended in a statement.

"We are closely examining the reports, but considering the large number of doses administered and the frequency with which blood clots can occur naturally, the available evidence does not indicate that the vaccine is the cause," said the safety officer. of vaccines at the MHRA, Phil Bryan.

 

The woman who died in Norway had no previous ailments

The woman who died in Norway was less than 50 years old, had no previous ailments, was vaccinated a week before and had an "unusual" clinical picture, as did two other health workers, all admitted last weekend at the University Hospital of Oslo.

“They have a very rare combination of low platelets, thrombi in small and large blood vessels, and bleeding. Other cases with similar symptoms have appeared in various European countries, ”Steinar Madsen, the director of the Norwegian Medicines Agency, told a press conference.

Norwegian health authorities are now investigating whether there is a direct relationship between the vaccine and the three cases, which Madsen explained show common features.