LONDON – Ireland and the Netherlands have joined the growing list of countries that have stopped using the coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford due to problems with blood clots.
The Dutch government said on Sunday that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine would not be used until at least March 29, while Ireland said earlier in the day that it had temporarily suspended the injection as a precautionary measure.
The World Health Organization sought to minimize ongoing safety concerns, saying last week that there is no link between the injection and an increased risk of developing blood clots. The United Nations health agency has asked countries to continue using the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.
Despite this, several European countries have already stopped using the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. This added to the problems with the region’s vaccination campaign, at a time when Germany’s public health agency warned that a third wave of coronavirus infections had already begun.
Thailand has also suspended planned vaccine implantation.
The move to stop its use by Dutch and Irish authorities came shortly after the Norwegian drug agency said it had been notified of three health professionals being treated at the hospital for bleeding, blood clots and a low platelet count after receiving the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. Norway has suspended its Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine program.
Geir Bukholm, director of the Division of Infection Control and Environmental Health at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, said the Norwegian drug agency “will monitor these suspicious side effects and take the necessary measures in this serious situation”.
Photo taken on 27 November 2020 shows “Nikki” Anniken Hars treating a Covid-19 patient in the intensive care unit at Oslo University Hospital Rikshospitalet in Oslo, Norway.
JIL YNGLAND | AFP | Getty Images
Europe’s drug regulator, the European Medicines Agency, also said that there is no indication that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is causing blood clots, adding that he believes the benefits of the vaccine “continue to outweigh its risks”.
The EMA acknowledged that some European countries have stopped using the Oxford-AstraZeneca injection, but said that inoculations can continue to be administered as long as an investigation of blood clot cases is ongoing.
How did AstraZeneca respond?
“A careful review of all available safety data from more than 17 million people vaccinated in the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom with the COVID-19 AstraZeneca vaccine has shown no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis. (DVT) or thrombocytopenia, in any defined age group, sex, batch or in any particular country, “AstraZeneca said in a statement on Sunday.
The most common side effects of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, which does not contain the virus and cannot cause Covid, are usually mild or moderate and improve a few days after vaccination.
A healthcare professional holds a box of the AstraZeneneca vaccine at the Institute of Infectious Diseases in Bamrasnaradura, in the province of Nonthaburi, just outside Bangkok.
Chaiwat Subprasom | SOPA images | LightRocket via Getty Images
The pharmaceutical giant said that across the EU and the UK there were 15 events of deep vein thrombosis and 22 events of pulmonary embolism reported among those vaccinated.
“This is much smaller than would be expected to occur naturally in a general population of this size and is similar to other licensed COVID-19 vaccines,” said AstraZeneca.
What do the experts say?
“Covid definitely causes clotting disorders and each vaccine prevents Covid’s disease, including more severe cases,” said Stephen Evans, professor of pharmacoepidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
“Therefore, it is extremely likely that the benefit of the vaccine will remarkably outweigh any risk of clotting disorders and the vaccine will prevent other consequences of Covid, including deaths from other causes.”
Evans said it is “entirely reasonable” to conduct studies on vaccines and clotting disorders, but added: “It seems a step too far in taking precautions that would prevent people from getting vaccines that would prevent disease.”
Many high-income countries – such as the United Kingdom, France, Australia and Canada – have chosen to continue with the launch of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.
“If there is clear evidence of serious or life-threatening side effects, it will have important consequences,” said Adam Finn, professor of pediatrics at the University of Bristol, in a statement.
“However, until now it has not been and is highly undesirable to interrupt a complex and urgent program each time people develop diseases that can be coincidental and not causally related. Making the right decision in situations like this is not easy, but having a hand firm at the helm is probably what is most needed, “said Finn.