BERLIN – Spain will stop administering the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine for two weeks while experts review its safety, Health Minister Carolina Dias announced on Monday.
Other European Union countries, including France, Germany and Italy, have also temporarily stopped using the AstraZeneca punch amid reports that some people developed blood clots after receiving the shot.
Dias announced the “precautionary and temporary” movement at a press conference in Madrid after consulting with Spanish regional governments.
A handful of the 17 regions of Spain had already stopped giving the AstraZeneca puncture, despite the national government’s previous insistence that there was no evidence to justify the change in vaccine policy.
AstraZeneca and global health authorities insist the shooting is safe.
Spain has only punctured people under 55, saying its effectiveness in the elderly has not been proven.
THIS IS A LATEST NEWS UPDATE. The previous AP story follows below.
BERLIN (AP) – Germany, France and Italy became the last countries on Monday to suspend the use of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine for reports of dangerous blood clots in some recipients, although the company and European regulators have said there is no evidence that the shooting is to blame.
AstraZeneca formula is just one of three vaccines used on the continent. But the move is another setback for the implementation of vaccines in the European Union, which has been hit by a shortage of supplies and other obstacles and lags far behind campaigns in Britain and the United States.
The safety committee of the EU drug regulatory agency convened a meeting on Thursday to review experts’ findings on the AstraZeneca vaccine and decide whether action should be taken.
The rage comes as much of Europe is tightening restrictions on schools and businesses amid growing cases of COVID-19.
The German Minister of Health said the decision to suspend the shooting of AstraZeneca was taken on the advice of the country’s vaccine regulator, the Paul Ehrlich Institute, which called for an additional investigation into seven reported cases of clots in the brain. people who had been vaccinated.
“Today’s decision is a purely preventative measure,” Jens Spahn said.
French President Emmanuel Macron said his country would also suspend firing until at least Tuesday afternoon. He said France hopes to resume the formula soon.
The Italian drug regulator also announced a temporary ban on precaution, less than 24 hours after saying the “alarm” about the vaccine “was not justified.”
AstraZeneca said there have been 37 reports of blood clots from more than 17 million people vaccinated in the European Union from 27 countries and in Britain. The drug maker said there is no evidence that the vaccine carries a higher risk of clots.
In fact, he said the incidence of clots is much lower than expected to occur naturally in a general population of this size and is similar to that of other licensed COVID-19 vaccines.
The World Health Organization and the EU’s European Medicines Agency have also said the data does not suggest the vaccine has caused clots and that people should continue to be vaccinated.
“Many thousands of people develop blood clots annually in the EU for different reasons,” the European Medicines Agency said. The incidence in vaccinated people “does not seem to be higher than that seen in the general population.”
The agency said that while the investigation continues, “the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine in preventing COVID-19, with its associated risk of hospitalization and death, outweigh the risks of side effects.”
Blood clots can travel through the body and cause heart attacks, strokes and deadly blockages in the lungs. AstraZeneca reported 15 cases of deep vein thrombosis, or a type of clot that often develops in the legs, and 22 cases of pulmonary embolisms or clots in the lungs.
The shooting of AstraZeneca has become a key tool in the efforts of European countries to increase their slowdown in vaccine deployment. It is also the mainstay of a UN-backed project known as COVAX that aims to bring COVID-19 vaccines to the poorest countries.
Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are also used on the European continent and Johnson & Johnson’s unique vaccine has been authorized but has not yet been delivered.
In the United States, which depends on Pfizer, Moderna and J&J vaccines, AstraZeneca is expected to apply for authorization any day.
Last week, Denmark became the first country to temporarily stop the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine in recent days. One person was said to have developed clots and died 10 days after receiving at least one dose. Other countries include Ireland, Thailand, the Netherlands, Norway, Iceland, Congo and Bulgaria.
Last week, Germany and France were one of the countries caught in the shooting, while Italy only suspended a specific batch of vaccine. Britain and Canada keep the AstraZeneca vaccine for now.
Dr Michael Head, a senior researcher in global health at the University of Southampton in England, said there was still no data to justify the suspension of the AstraZeneca vaccine and called the decision “baffling”.
“Stopping a deployment of vaccines during a pandemic has consequences,” Head said. “This translates into delays in protecting people and the potential for increased hesitation, as a result of people who have seen the headlines and who, understandably, care.”
Spahn, the German health minister, said of the decision to suspend AstraZeneca’s firing: “The most important thing for trust is transparency.” He said both the first and second doses would be affected by the suspension.
German authorities have encouraged everyone who feels increasingly ill more than four days after receiving the shot, for example, with persistent headaches or point-shaped bruises, to seek medical attention.
Germany has received just over 3 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, and about half of those administered so far, compared to nearly 7 million of those shot with Pfizer and about 285,000 from Moderna.
Meanwhile, Europe is once again imposing restrictions on trying to combat the resurgence of infections, many of them from variants of the original virus.
In Italy, 80% of children across the country were unable to attend classes after stricter rules became effective in more regions on Monday. In Poland, reinforced restrictions were applied to two more regions, including Warsaw. Paris could close in a matter of days because intensive care units are flooding with COVID-19 patients.
———
Sylvie Corbet in Paris, Maria Cheng in London, and Frances D’Emilio in Rome contributed to this report.
———
Follow AP pandemic coverage at:
https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic
https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine
https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak