ZURICH (Reuters) – Austrian authorities have suspended the inoculation of a batch of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine as a precaution while investigating the death of one person and the illness of another after the shots, a health agency said on Sunday.
“The Federal Office of Health Care Safety (BASG) has received two reports on a temporal connection to a vaccination of the same batch of AstraZeneca vaccine at the district clinic in Zwettl” in Lower Austria province, he said.
A 49-year-old woman died as a result of severe clotting disorders, while a 35-year-old woman developed a pulmonary embolism and is recovering, the report said. Pulmonary embolism is an acute lung disease caused by a dislodged blood clot.
“There is currently no evidence of a causal relationship to vaccination,” said BASG.
The Austrian newspaper Niederoesterreichische Nachrichten, as well as the ORF broadcaster and the APA news agency, reported that the two women were nurses who worked at the Zwettl clinic.
BASG said that blood clotting was not among the known side effects of the vaccine. He was vigorously conducting his investigation to completely rule out any possible calls.
“As a precautionary measure, the remaining stocks of the affected vaccine batch are no longer being issued or vaccinated,” he added.
An AstraZeneca spokesman said: “There were no serious adverse events associated with the vaccine”, adding that all batches are subject to strict and stringent quality controls.
Actual tests and experiences so far suggest that the vaccine is safe and effective and has been approved for use in more than 50 countries, he said.
AstraZeneca also said it was in contact with the Austrian authorities and would fully support the investigation.
In late January, European Union regulators approved the product, saying it was effective and safe to use, while the World Health Organization (WHO) listed the product for emergency use in mid-February.
The adverse reactions observed in the trials were mostly short-lived and no blood clotting problems were reported.
A safety assessment by the German vaccine regulator of more than 360,000 people who received the Astra vaccine in the country between the launch in early February and February 26 concluded that the adverse reactions were in line with the safety profile described in the clinical trials .
Reporting by Michael Shields in Zurich, Ludwig Burger in Frankfurt, edited by Louise Heavens