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The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) today recommended continuing to apply AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccines and assured that the drug was under review for its possible link to rare cases of blood clots.
“Almost 200 million people around the world have received AstraZeneca’s covid-19 vaccine and reports of adverse reactions are very rare, ”PAHO Director Carissa Etienne told a press conference.
“It is important to continue to administer AstraZeneca vaccines where they are available,” he insisted.
“Regulatory agencies are examining rare reports of blood clots in people with low platelet counts revealed by robust vaccine surveillance systems, and we expect additional recommendations soon,” Etienne noted, according to AFP news agency.
Last week, the agency European Medicines (EMA) and WHO determined that the cause and effect relationship between the AstraZeneca vaccine and the blood clot formation is plausible but not confirmed. They also added that the reported cases were “very rare”.
According to the European entity, only 222 cases of thrombosis were detected after 34 million injections performed with AstraZeneca in the 30 countries of the European Economic Area (EU, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein), including Germany, France , Norway, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
Most European countries that had stopped using the drug have resumed its use, but set an age limit.
United Kingdom for use only with persons over 30 years of age, while in Germany, Italy and Holland decided to limit it to under 60.
In fact, Germany and France decided that people under the age of 60 and 55, who received the first dose of the drug were inoculated with another vaccine for their second dose. Canada and Belgium have stopped using it with those under 55, while Sweden and Finland with those under 65.
Today, Denmark became the first country to permanently exclude the AstraZeneca vaccine for its unusual but “serious” side effects. Another Nordic country targeting the vaccine is Norway, which will announce its decision on Thursday.
The benefit / risk ratio remains “very favorable to the vaccine”, then said a WHO spokesperson. The specialists continue to analyze the new data and will issue recommendations “if necessary”.
The drug AstraZeneca is a crucial part of the Covax portfolio, which is a WHO-led mechanism to purchase vaccines and ensure their equitable access around the world.
Etienne said that since March, PAHO’s Revolving Fund has helped distribute more than three million doses on behalf of Covax in 28 countries in the Americas.
New studies
A medical laboratory in the UK has noted that people over the age of 80 show similar antibody responses five to six weeks after receiving the first dose of the vaccine. Pfizer and of AstraZeneca against the coronavirus.
Scientists at the University of Birmingham also concluded that those who received the AstraZeneca had a stronger T cell response than the Pfizer alternative.
The results were published as preprints in the scientific journal The Lancet that have not yet been peer reviewed, showing that the antibodies were present in 93% of those who received the vaccine. Pfizer and in 87% of those who applied AstraZeneca after the first dose.
But scientists say the strength of cellular response is three times higher in the AstraZeneca group (31%) than in Pfizer (12%).
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