GENEVA: The World Health Organization said on Friday that there is no reason to stop using the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine after several countries have suspended implementation due to fear of blood clots, while some countries have begun to warn of another virus wave.
The WHO, which said its vaccine advisory committee was examining incoming safety data, emphasized that no causal relationship has been established between the AstraZeneca vaccine and coagulation.
“AstraZeneca is an excellent vaccine, just like the other vaccines that are being used,” WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris told reporters in Geneva.
“Yes, we should continue to use the AstraZeneca vaccine,” she added, noting that any concerns about safety must be investigated.
UK-based AstraZeneca insisted that its injection was safe, adding that “there is no evidence” of higher blood clot risks.
Despite the hope that vaccines will pave the way for a return to normality, the hard-hit Italy has announced tough new restrictions in much of the country, with Prime Minister Mario Draghi warning that the country was facing “a new wave” of infections .
A year after becoming the first European country to face a major outbreak, Italy is once again battling the rapid spread of Covid-19, this time fueled by new, more contagious variants.
Schools, restaurants, shops and museums were ordered on Friday to close most regions of Italy, including Rome and Milan, starting next week.
Greek authorities spoke on Friday of a “serious epidemiological situation”, also warning of a third wave, as the number of infections increases in Athens and other major cities.
Health experts warned that the restriction measures in place, including the closing of schools in major conurbations, would be extended once again.
And Disneyland Paris, Europe’s biggest tourist attraction, said on Friday that it will not be able to reopen as planned on April 2 because of the Covid-19 crisis, with persistently high infections in France.
The shadow cast on the AstraZeneca jab is increasing the problems that the European Union has had in the distribution of vaccines against the coronavirus.
Denmark, Norway and Iceland have paused the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine as a precaution after isolated reports of receptors developing blood clots.
Italy and Austria have banned the use of separate batch injections from AstraZeneca, and Thailand and Bulgaria said this week they would delay the injection’s launch.
In Spain, at least five regions said on Friday they had suspended the use of AstraZeneca vaccines from the suspected batch banned by Austria as a precautionary measure.
But several other countries, including Australia, said they would continue with their launches, as they found no reason to change the course. Canada also said that there is no evidence that the vaccine causes adverse reactions.
In a new blow, the EU drug regulator said that serious allergies should be added to the possible side effects of the AstraZeneca vaccine, after probable links have been found in several cases in Britain.
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz suggested on Friday that some European countries may have signed “secret contracts” with vaccine companies to receive more vaccines than they should under EU rules.
EU members agreed that vaccines should be distributed among countries based on population size, but Kurz said that after comparing the total number of purchases from member states, it was clear that “deliveries do not follow the quota system per capita ”.
Despite setbacks elsewhere, US President Joe Biden offered hope to his country, the most affected in the world.
The leader promised a return to some kind of normality by July 4, marking the national holiday as his target of “independence” from the virus.
After an unstable start, the United States increased its vaccination program, following the advice of scientists who say that jabs are the only way out of a pandemic that has killed 2.6 million people worldwide.
There was also some encouraging news on the vaccine front when WHO approved Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine on Friday, paving the way for an additional 500 million doses to enter Covax’s global vaccine sharing scheme.
“Each new, safe and effective tool against Covid-19 is another step closer to controlling the pandemic,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a statement.
The news comes after the single-dose jab won European Union approval on Thursday.
It also received a green light from regulators in the United States, Canada, South Africa and France – which on Friday exceeded 90,000 deaths from coronavirus since the start of the pandemic.
Meanwhile, it has been announced that India will manufacture at least another billion doses of the Covid-19 vaccine by the end of next year, in a joint initiative with the United States, Japan and Australia.
After the nations’ first four-party summit, US President Joe Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the so-called Quad had made a “massive joint commitment” to vaccines.
“Quad has pledged to deliver up to a billion doses to ASEAN, the Indo-Pacific and beyond by the end of 2022,” Sullivan told reporters.
burs-pvh / har
ASTRAZENECA
JOHNSON & JOHNSON
EURO DISNEY SCA