BERLIN (AP) – Sweden became the last country to stop using AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday as European regulators review safety data after reporting dangerous blood clots in some receivers.
The company and international regulators continue to claim that the vaccine is safe, however, and many countries around the world continue to advance their vaccination campaigns.
The European Medicines Agency is scheduled to meet on Thursday to review the experts’ conclusions on the vaccine and decide whether action is needed. So far the agency has said the benefits of receiving the vaccine outweigh the risk of side effects.
The Swedish Public Health Agency said on Tuesday that it would suspend the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine pending the results of the EMA meeting. Germany, France, Italy and Spain were among those countries that suspended vaccine use on Monday.
“The decision is a precautionary measure,” chief Swedish epidemiologist Anders Tegnell said in a statement.
Also Tuesday, the German government said it would postpone until after the EMA meeting a virtual summit of state governors convened to review the country’s vaccination efforts. The summit was scheduled for Wednesday,
The AstraZeneca vaccine is one of three authorized for use on the European continent. But the spread of concern about the shooting has created another setback for European Union vaccination, which has been hit by shortages and other obstacles and lags far behind efforts in Britain and the United States. .
AstraZeneca said there is no evidence that the vaccine carries a higher risk of blood clots. There have been 37 reports of blood clots among the more than 17 million people who have received the vaccine across the EU and Britain, the company said.
“This is much lower than expected to occur naturally in a general population of this size and is similar in other licensed COVID-19 vaccines,” AstraZeneca said.
Much of Asia has put aside concerns about AstraZeneca’s sting, and the Thai prime minister was fired on Tuesday as the country began rolling out the vaccine.
“There are people who have concerns,” Prayuth Chan-ocha said after her vaccination. “But we have to believe in doctors, believe in our medical professionals.”
Thailand was the first country outside Europe to temporarily suspend the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine. But later the health authorities decided to go ahead, with Prayuth and members of his cabinet receiving the first shots.
Indonesia suspended the use of the vaccine on Monday, saying it was expecting a full report from the World Health Organization on possible side effects.
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PA reporters from around the world contributed to this report.
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