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- Danish health authorities on Thursday suspended the use of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine.
- There have been several cases of blood clots among those vaccinated, he said.
- Denmark’s health minister said it was not clear whether the blood clots were linked to the vaccine.
- See more stories on the Insider business page.
Denmark has stopped using AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine due to potential serious side effects.
The country has suspended use of the vaccine for at least 14 days after several cases of blood clots in those vaccinated, the Danish health authority said on Thursday. One of those cases was linked to a death in Denmark, he said.
Magnus Heunicke, Danish Minister of Health, mentionned that it was not yet clear whether the clots were related to the vaccine.
In a statement, the Danish Ministry of Health said there was good evidence that the vaccine, developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, was both safe and effective, but needed to respond to reports of serious side effects.
He was awaiting the results of an investigation by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), he added.
In a statement to Insider, a spokesperson for AstraZeneca said the safety of its vaccine had been “widely studied” and the data showed the vaccine was “generally well tolerated.”
“Patient safety is AstraZeneca’s top priority,” they said. “Regulators have clear and strict efficacy and safety standards for the approval of any new drug, including the COVID-19 AstraZeneca vaccine.
“The safety of the vaccine has been extensively studied in Phase III clinical trials and peer reviewed data confirms that the vaccine was generally well tolerated.”
Denmark has also approved COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. The health authority said if it permanently suspended the AstraZeneca vaccine, it would postpone its vaccination plan for four weeks.
Five EU countries suspend specific batch of AstraZeneca vaccine
The news follows that five EU countries suspended a specific batch of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine on Sunday as a precautionary measure, following the death of a vaccinated person.
Denmark has completely suspended the use of the vaccine, not just the specific lot.
In Europe, a person was diagnosed with multiple blood clots in the vessels and died 10 days after the vaccination, the EMA said on Wednesday. Another had a blood clot in his lung and was hospitalized.
The EMA noted two other “thrombotic events” in people who received the vaccines.
“There is currently no indication that the vaccination caused these conditions, which are not listed as side effects with this vaccine,” the EMA said, but added it had launched an investigation.
Austria, Estonia, Lithuania, Luxembourg and Latvia had all suspended use of the lot on Tuesday.
The vaccine has obtained conditional marketing authorization or emergency use in more than 50 countries, including the UK and the EU. It has not yet received emergency use authorization in the United States.
Insider contacted the Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Agency, the UK’s vaccine regulator, for comment, but did not immediately receive a comment.
AstraZeneca shares fell more than 2% after Denmark announced plans to stop the vaccine.
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