AstraZeneca Insist Their Covid-19 Vaccine Is Safe After More Countries Suspend It’s Use

AstraZeneca Insist Their Covid-19 Vaccine Is Safe After More Countries Suspend It’s Use.

AstraZeneca has insisted its Covid-19 vaccine is safe after concerns around blood clots have prompted several countries to halt the drugs use. The pharmaceutical giant said it has reviewed safety data in more than 17 million people vaccinated across the UK and EU which shows no evidence of increased risk.

People across the UK are still being urged to get their vaccine, however, Ireland, Austria, Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia and Italy, as well as non-EU countries Norway and Iceland, have all now halted their rollout over the same concerns.

The number of cases of blood clots reported is lower than the hundreds of cases that would be expected among the general population, AstraZeneca’s chief medical officer Ann Taylor said.

The statement comes after Irish Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly said on Sunday that the use of the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab was being temporarily suspended just as a “precautionary step”.

Mr Donnelly said: “The decision to temporarily suspend use of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine was based on new information from Norway that emerged late last night.

“This is a precautionary step.”

AstraZeneca said its review had found no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or thrombocytopenia, in any defined age group, gender, batch or in any particular country.

Thailand became the first Asian country on Friday, March 12, to halt the use of the jab over safety concerns, shortly after Denmark announced a two-week pause to its nationwide rollout after reports of blood clots and one death.

Since the AstraZeneca vaccination was approved, just 30 people worldwide have been found to have had thrombotic episodes. The World Health Organization (WHO) assures that it cannot be related to the vaccine and has stressed that it “must continue to be administered.”

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