Danish official fainted as AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine rejection announced

The director of the Danish Medicines Agency fainted on Wednesday during the press conference in which she announced the permanent suspension of the country’s use of the AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19.

Tanja Erichsen was participating in the live TV report when suddenly she collapsed on the floor and was immediately rescued by the director of the Danish Health Agency, Søren Brostrøm.

According to the Medicines Agency Twitter account, Erichsen is doing well and was taken to the hospital for an exam. There was no official explanation for the event at the time.

The appearance was interrupted by this unexpected event, but soon after, Brostrøm took over the event to note that Denmark completely abandoned the COVID-19 vaccination with the doses of AstraZeneca.

Vaccination with doses of AstraZeneca in Denmark had been paralyzed for a month, considering that there is a probable link between these and abnormal cases of thrombosis, that there are enough vaccines on the market and that the epidemic situation in this country is under control.

Likewise, the decision to reject means that the 149,000 people who received the first dose of AstraZeneca in Denmark will later be offered another of the vaccines approved in that country.

Denmark’s vaccination schedule will also be delayed by several weeks and authorities now estimate that the general population will have completed it in early August, rather than in the second half of July.

Denmark was the first to halt vaccination with AstraZeneca on March 11, a decision which was later followed by most European countries, although they resumed the process when the European Medicines Agency (EMA) ensured that ‘there was no evidence of a direct relationship with the detected cases of thrombosis.

However, some countries have restricted its use to people over 60, such as Germany, Spain and Sweden, while Norway will announce in a few days what decision it will take on the vaccine, also suspended for a month.

The epidemic situation has been stable for a month in Denmark, which last week recorded the third lowest incidence of new cases in the last 14 days, with 129.15 per 100,000 inhabitants, behind Iceland and Portugal.

Danish authorities began reopening economic and social activity in March, largely linked to the presentation of a certificate proving that they are vaccinated, have recovered from covid-19 or have tested negative.

With information from EFE

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