- The Danish health authority suspended the use of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday.
- There have been several cases of blood clots among those vaccinated, he said.
- The country’s health minister said it was unclear whether the blood clots were related to the vaccine.
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Denmark has stopped using AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine due to potential serious side effects.
The country has suspended the use of the vaccine for at least 14 days after several cases of blood clots among vaccinated people, the Danish health authority said Thursday. One was related to a death in Denmark, he said.
Magnus Heunicke, the Danish health minister, said that it was not yet clear whether the clots were linked to the vaccine.
In a statement, the Danish health ministry said there is good evidence that the vaccine is safe and effective, but that it must respond to reports of serious side effects and that it is awaiting the results of an investigation by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
Insider approached AstraZeneca for comment, but did not receive an immediate response.
Denmark has also approved the COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. The health authority said the permanent suspension of AstraZeneca’s vaccine would boost its vaccination plan.
The news follows five EU countries suspending a specific batch of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine on Sunday as a precaution after the death of a vaccinated person.
Denmark has completely suspended the use of the vaccine, not just the specific batch.
In Europe, a person was diagnosed with multiple blood clots in the vessels and died 10 days after vaccination, the EMA said on Wednesday. Another had a blood clot in the lung and was hospitalized.
EMA noted two other “thrombotic events” in people who received the vaccines.
“There is currently no indication that vaccination has caused these diseases, which are not listed as side effects of this vaccine,” said the EMA, but added that it had started an investigation.
On Tuesday, Austria, Estonia, Lithuania, Luxembourg and Latvia suspended the use of the lot.
The vaccine, which was developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, has received conditional authorization for marketing or emergency use in more than 50 countries, including the United Kingdom and the EU. An emergency use authorization has not yet been issued in the USA.
Insider approached the Regulatory Agency for Medicines and Health Products, the UK vaccine regulator, for comment, but did not receive an immediate response.
AstraZeneca’s shares fell more than 2% after Denmark announced its plan to suspend the vaccine.
This is a developing story.