Thailand is the latest country to delay the use of the UK-based vaccine after health authorities in Denmark, Norway and Iceland suspended the shootings on Thursday.
Earlier, Austria stopped using a batch of AstraZeneca shots while investigating a death from coagulation disorders and a disease from pulmonary embolism.
‘Blood clots’
Denmark suspended the shootings for the first time in two weeks after a 60-year-old woman, who was shot by AstraZeneca from the same batch used in Austria, formed a blood clot and died, according to reports. Danish health authorities.
His response was also motivated by reports of “possible serious side effects” from other European countries.
“It is currently not possible to conclude whether there is any link. We are acting soon, it needs to be thoroughly investigated,” Health Minister Magnus Heunicke said on Twitter.
Iceland on Thursday suspended blows with the vaccine while awaiting the results of an EMA investigation. Italy, also on Thursday, said it would suspend the use of a different AstraZeneca batch than is used in Austria.
Four other countries (Estonia, Lithuania, Luxembourg and Latvia) have stopped batch inoculations while investigations continue, the EMA said.
Little evidence
Some health experts said there was little evidence to suggest that the AstraZeneca vaccine should not be given and that cases of blood clots corresponded to the rate of such cases in the general population.
“The problem with spontaneous reports of suspected adverse reactions to a vaccine is the enormous difficulty in distinguishing a causal effect from a coincidence,” Stephen Evans, a professor of pharmacoepidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, told Reuters.
European drug regulator EMA said the benefits of the vaccine outweighed its risks and could continue to be administered.
AstraZeneca told Reuters in a written statement that the safety of its vaccine had been extensively studied in human trials and that peer-reviewed data confirmed that it was generally well tolerated.
Other experts have noted that of the millions of AstraZeneca vaccine shots administered elsewhere, including Britain, no cases of vaccine causing blood clots or related problems have been reported.
Australia and Canada will continue to launch
Meanwhile, Australia said on Friday it would continue to launch AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine, as there was no evidence of a link to blood clots.
The Australian government said that as long as its pharmaceutical regulator oversaw these cases, there would be no pause in the deployment of the vaccine.
“We continue with the vaccine, we continue with the launch,” Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack told the press in Melbourne.
Canada also said the AstraZeneca vaccine is safe after Denmark and Norway temporarily suspended its use.
“Health Canada is aware of reports of adverse events in Europe following vaccination with the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine and wants to assure Canadians that the benefits of the vaccine continue to outweigh its risks,” the health department said in a statement. communiqué.
“At this time, there are no indications that the vaccine caused these events,” he said.
Mexico has also said it will continue to apply doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Swedish authorities said they did not find enough evidence to stop vaccination with AstraZeneca’s prick.