A health worker has a box of the AstraZeneneca vaccine at the Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute in Nonthaburi province, on the outskirts of Bangkok.
Chaiwat Subprasom | SOUP Pictures | LightRocket using Getty Images
LONDON – The coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University has now been suspended in several European and Asian countries, following reports of blood clots in some vaccinated people. However, many other nations have defended the use of the shot and said they will continue their respective inoculation campaigns.
Thailand on Friday became the first Asian country to halt the use of the spike for security reasons, shortly after Denmark announced a two-week break in its implementation nationwide following reports of blood clots and a death.
In a reversal of the disease of the European vaccination campaign, seven other countries have also suspended the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca trait: Norway, Iceland, Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia.
Meanwhile, Austria and Italy have said they will stop using certain batches of the vaccine as a precautionary measure.
The European Medicines Regulator, the European Medicines Agency, stressed on Thursday that there were no indications that the shot was causing blood clots, adding that it believes the benefits of the vaccine “continue to outweigh its risks”.
The EMA acknowledged that some member states had stopped the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca shot, but said inoculations could continue to be administered while blood clot cases are under investigation.
As of Wednesday, around 5 million people in Europe had received the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. Of this figure, 30 cases of so-called “thromboembolic events” have been reported. These cases refer to the formation of blood clots in the blood vessels and they block blood flow.
AstraZeneca said the vaccine has been studied extensively during phase 3 trials and that data reviewed in pairs confirm that the vaccine “is generally well tolerated.”
Why do countries take breaks in vaccination campaigns?
On Friday, Thailand’s health ministry announced it would temporarily postpone the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, as it describes the shot as a “good vaccine,” but that it wants to suspend it due to safety investigations.
Kiattiphum Wongjit, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Public Health, said the Southeast Asian country was able to pause its vaccination campaign because it had largely controlled a second wave of Covid cases through quarantine and border controls, according to Reuters.
A press conference on the temporary halt to the deployment of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine in Thailand is being held in Bangkok, Thailand, on March 12, 2021.
Xinhua | Rachen Sageamsak through Getty Images
The country of nearly 70 million people has so far recorded about 26,600 cases and 85 deaths, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University.
Thailand’s decision to suspend the planned launch of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, which was due to start on Friday, came after the Danish health authority’s decision.
“It’s important to note that we didn’t opt for the AstraZeneca vaccine, but that we put it on hold,” Soren Brostrom, director of Denmark’s National Health Board, said on Thursday.
“There is good evidence that the vaccine is safe and effective. But both we and the Danish Medicines Agency need to react to reports of possible serious side effects, both from Denmark and other European countries.”
Many high-income countries have chosen to continue the implementation of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine due to safety concerns.
The UK, France, Australia, Canada and Mexico are some of the nations that have tried to reassure citizens about the benefits of getting the vaccine and have said they will continue their respective inoculation campaigns.
What do the experts say?
The EMA safety committee is reviewing the issue, but has said there is currently no evidence that the vaccine had caused blood clots, and noted that they do not appear as side effects of this vaccine.
The European Medicines Regulator also noted that the data available so far show that the number of blood clots in vaccinated people is not higher than what is seen among the general population.
“Blood clot reports received so far are no higher than the number that would have occurred naturally in the vaccinated population,” said Dr. Phil Bryan, head of vaccine safety at Medicines and Healthcare Products. Regulatory of Great Britain.
“Public safety will always come first. We keep this issue under close review, but the available evidence does not confirm that the vaccine is the cause. People should go get the COVID-19 vaccine when asked.” Bryan said.
Peter Brownsea, a Southampton resident, receives the Oxford / AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine from a member of the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service at a temporary vaccination center set up at Basingstoke Fire Station, Hampshire, south of ‘England as crews continue to receive 999 emergency calls.
Andrew Matthews | AFP | Getty Images
Stephen Evans, a professor of pharmacoepidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said: “The problem with spontaneous reports of suspected adverse reactions to a vaccine is the enormous difficulty in distinguishing a causal effect from a coincidence.”
“This is especially true when we know that Covid-19 disease is closely related to blood clotting and there have been hundreds, if not many thousands, of deaths caused by blood clotting as a result of Covid-19 disease. The first thing to do is to be absolutely sure that the clots had no other cause, including Covid-19, “Evans added.
How does the vaccine work?
The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is a trait designed to prevent coronavirus in people over 18 years of age. It consists of an adenovirus that has been modified to contain the gene for making a protein from SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.
The most common side effects of the vaccine, which does not contain the virus and cannot cause covid, are usually mild to moderate and improve within a few days after vaccination.
Final-stage clinical trials showed that the AstraZeneca-Oxford trait had an average efficacy of 70% in protection against the virus.
A more recent study by Oxford researchers found that the Covid vaccine was 76% effective in preventing symptomatic infection for three months after a single dose and that the rate of effectiveness actually increased with a longer interval. long between the first and second dose.
– CNBC Holly Ellyatt has contributed to this report.