EU to continue investigating blood clots linked to AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine

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The European medicines regulator said Thursday that its safety committee will convene an expert meeting on March 29 to further investigate the reported cases of blood clots linked to the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford.

External medical experts and two representatives of the public are expected to give their opinion on the possible reasons for the clots, how they occur and other possible risks, the European Medicines Agency said at https: //www.ema. europa.eu/en/news/ covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca-update-ongoing-evaluation-of blood clots.

The EMA and the World Health Organization backed the vaccine’s safety last week, but a poll showed European confidence took a hit after at least 17 countries suspended or delayed use in the following reports of hospitalizations with coagulation problems and bleeding.

EMA’s Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC), which reviews the safety of medicines for human use, has launched a continuous and rapid review to assess these clots, including rare cases of blood clots in the brain .

An updated recommendation from the PRAC is expected between April 6 and 9, when the committee will meet.

AstraZeneca said its studies have found no higher risk of clots due to the vaccine.

(Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)