London – Sweden became the last on Tuesday to join a growing list of countries that suspended the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine. More than a dozen countries, mostly in Europe, have temporarily stopped using the vaccine as a precautionary measure after a small number of people have developed blood clots after receiving the start.
But experts in the UK and other European countries see it as a disaster for the continent’s already delayed vaccine deployment. COVID-19 infections are spreading exponentially again in some parts of Europe, even causing new blockages nationwide.
British drug regulators and AstraZeneca executives insist there is no link between the vaccine developed by Oxford University and a higher incidence of blood clots.
The Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company that teamed up with the prestigious university to produce the drug has said that a review of 17 million people in the UK and Europe who have received the vaccine showed that less than 40 developed blood clots – “even lower than I would expect to find in the general population,” AstraZeneca said.
The incidence of coagulation is similar to that of all vaccines, according to CBS News, which includes the Moderna and Pfizer formulas currently used in the US.
Denmark, Iceland and Norway were among the first to stop the use of the vaccine developed by Oxford University on 11 March. The next day, Thailand struck the vaccine just before it was released. That decision was reversed on Tuesday when the Thai prime minister obtained his first dose of vaccine and urged his Thai counterparts to do the same.
Bulgaria, Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany, France and Spain have also decided to suspend the use of the vaccine, and some say they would wait at least until the European Medicines Agency (EU pharmaceutical regulator) issues new guidelines on vaccine he approved weeks ago. The agency’s expert group met Tuesday to review data on clots.
Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Luxembourg have suspended the use of at least one batch of AstraZeneca vaccines delivered to various countries.
“No evidence”
The manufacturer of the drug has been blunt that there are no data suggesting any link between its vaccine and serious side effects, and several independent health authorities have supported this stance.
The European Medicines Agency and the World Health Organization said last week that there was no evidence that the drug caused clots.
“Analysis of our safety data from more than 10 million records has shown no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis in any given age group, gender, lot, or country. “, said a spokesman for AstraZeneca. “In fact, the observed number of such events is significantly lower in vaccinated than expected among the general population.”
European Medicines Agency officials stressed last week that “there are currently no indications that vaccination will cause these conditions” and that “the benefits of the vaccine continue to outweigh its risks and the vaccine can continue to be administered.”
On Monday, however, German officials said the pan-European agency was expected to decide later in the week “whether and how the new information will affect vaccine authorization.”
The British pharmaceutical regulator on Monday released new support for the vaccine, which has been widely used for weeks across the UK
Dr. Phil Bryan, head of vaccine safety at the UK Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), said people “They should still go get the COVID-19 vaccine when asked.”
“We are reviewing the reports closely, but given the large number of reports [AstraZeneca] the doses administered and the frequency with which blood clots can occur naturally, the available evidence does not suggest that the vaccine is the cause, “he said, according to the BBC.
Even countries that have stopped using the vaccine in Europe have said there is no evidence that it was clots. caused by the firing of AstraZeneca, only that they occurred after it was administered.
Steve Parsons / Pool / REUTERS
The head of the Oxford vaccination group, Andrew Pollard, said real-world data from the UK’s mass vaccination program recently showed a 94% drop in hospital admissions for those who have received the vaccine. ‘Oxford, even more impressive figures than with the Pfizer formula.
“We have not had any hospitalizations or deaths [from COVID] in those individuals who were vaccinated with the vaccine, “Pollard said.” Therefore, real-world evidence confirms in real life what we saw in the clinical trials: it absolutely exceeded the expectations of the trials. “
US approval and public relations issues
The United States has stored tens of millions of doses of the vaccine, but AstraZeneca has not yet applied for emergency medical authorization from the Food and Drug Administration, pending the results of the trials. US clinicians. A company executive he told CBSN on March 5 that AstraZeneca hoped to apply for this authorization “in the coming weeks.”
Last year the Trump administration pledged nearly $ 1.2 billion to AstraZeneca to help develop the vaccine at Oxford University in exchange for 300 million doses.
Easier and cheaper to manufacture and distribute than other vaccines already approved in the United States, the Oxford shot has long been considered the leading candidate for inoculation programs not only in America but around the world.
More than 70 countries around the world had used it until last week.
The latest security scares are just the latest in a series of advertising setbacks for the vaccine.
With test data showing lower efficacy than Pfizer-BioNtech and Moderna vaccines, some people in Germany and other countries are reluctant to make a “second-class” shot. The government there also stopped approving its use for people over 65, citing the lack of specific data from the trials, but that decision was reversed and German officials have been one of the critics with the arrest of the programs. vaccination in other European countries week.
South Africa also temporarily suspended the vaccine after a small clinical trial found that it could not adequately protect against infection with the COVID-19 variant that has swept that country.