AstraZeneca is no longer in Denmark | The government gives …

Denmark has decided to permanently exclude AstraZeneca’s covid-19 vaccine, announcing that it was due to its rare but “serious” side effects, Danish health authorities announced yesterday, making it the first European country to make. Instead, the continental regulator and the WHO came to support it.

After two serious cases, one of which was fatal, of blood clots in people who received their first injection, Denmark was the first European country to completely suspend use of the vaccine on March 11, in a bid to study more before its side effects.

But yesterday he announced the final decision: “The vaccination campaign in Denmark continues without the AstraZeneca vaccine,” said National Health Agency director Soren Brostrom. “There is a possible cross-reaction between the vaccine and a low platelet count. We also know there is a temporal link. The reaction occurs one to ten days after inoculation with AstraZeneca,” he said. .

“In Denmark, most of the population at risk has already been vaccinated and the epidemic is under control,” insisted the health official, adding that he shares the opinion that he considers that the benefits of the vaccine l outweigh the risks.

Most European countries that had suspended the use of this vaccine have resumed its use, but with an age limit. Norway will announce its decision today. South Africa also quit AstraZeneca in February, but for another reason: its effectiveness in the face of the variant plaguing the country is in doubt. The United States and Switzerland have not yet authorized it, and Venezuela has refused to do so, citing its side effects.

According to a medical team from Oslo National Hospital in Norway, these atypical cases are caused by “a strong immune response” triggered by the vaccine.

Yesterday, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) recommended continuing to apply AstraZeneca vaccines. PAHO director Carissa Etienne told a press conference that the organization, which is a regional agency of the World Health Organization (WHO), is attentive to surveillance processes. “Almost 200 million people worldwide have received the AstraZeneca covid-19 vaccine and reports of side effects are very rare,” he added.