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The World Health Organization (WHO) has urged countries not to suspend Covid vaccinations as several large EU member states halted their rollout of the Oxford-AstraZeneca program.
He said there was no evidence of a link between the vaccine and the blood clots.
Germany, France, Italy and Spain have joined smaller countries in halting vaccinations as a precaution while checks are being carried out.
WHO vaccine safety experts meet on Tuesday to discuss the jab.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) will meet on the same day and is expected to draw conclusions on Thursday. He also said the vaccine should continue to be used.
There have been a number of cases in Europe of blood clots developing after administration of the vaccine.
However, experts say this was not more than the number of blood clot incidents typically reported in the general population.
About 17 million people in the EU and UK have received a dose of the vaccine, with less than 40 cases of blood clots reported last week, AstraZeneca said.
What measures are taken?
Germany’s health ministry said on Monday it would stop administering the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine with immediate effect, on the recommendation of the Paul Ehrlich Institute (PEI), the country’s vaccine authority.
“The background to this decision follows new reports of cases of cerebral venous thrombosis linked to an AstraZeneca vaccination,” said Minister of Health Jens Spahn.
“In light of these newly reported cases, the Paul Ehrlich Institute today reassessed the situation and recommended a suspension of vaccinations and further analysis.”
He said the decision was “not political”. “We are all very aware of the consequences of this decision, and we did not take this decision lightly,” he added.
Shortly after, French President Emmanuel Macron said France was suspending the vaccine until further notice was given by the EMA.
“We have a simple guide, to be informed by science and the competent health authorities and to do it as part of a European strategy,” he said.
And the Italian medicines agency has extended a ban introduced on individual batches of vaccine across the country, also pending the EMA’s decision.
Spain’s Health Minister Carolina Darias said use of the vaccine would be suspended there for at least two weeks.
The suspensions came less than a day after the Netherlands followed suit. His suspension will last at least until March 29.
The Republic of Ireland, Portugal, Denmark, Norway, Bulgaria, Iceland and Slovenia have also temporarily halted vaccinations with the vaccine, while the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Indonesia have postponed the launch of their deployments.
Several European countries, including Austria, have suspended the use of certain batches of the drug as a precautionary measure.
However, Belgium, Poland, the Czech Republic and Ukraine have said they will continue to administer the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Belgian Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke said that with a high number of cases currently, Belgium could not afford to stop the deployment.
“For us, the balance is clear and clean, it’s a race against time,” he said.
Thailand said it will start using the vaccine on Tuesday, following a brief delay in rollout due to safety concerns.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said health experts assured him that all vaccines given in the country, including those from AstraZeneca, were safe.
What are the WHO and other experts saying?
WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said the body was investigating the information.
“As soon as the WHO fully understands these events, the results and any unlikely changes to the current recommendations will be immediately communicated to the public,” he said.
“To date, there is no evidence that the incidents are caused by the vaccine and it is important that vaccination campaigns continue so that we can save lives and stem serious illnesses caused by the virus.”
The EMA – which is also currently conducting a review of blood clot incidents – said the vaccine could continue to be given.
The UK medicines regulator also said the evidence “does not suggest” that the vaccine causes clots, as it has urged residents of the country to get the vaccine when asked to do so.
Professor Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford vaccination group that developed the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, told the BBC’s Today program that there was “very reassuring evidence that there is no increased blood clot phenomenon here in UK where most doses in Europe [have] been given so far ”.
Right to ask questions
While large numbers of people are being vaccinated at a rapid rate around the world, some of them will still get sick from other things unrelated to the vaccine.
These breaks for the AstraZeneca vaccine are not due to the fact that it is not safe to give. This is to allow time for experts to explore why a small number of people who recently received the vaccine also developed blood clots.
When an illness occurs soon after vaccination, it is fair to wonder if the vaccine may have contributed in any way.
There is, however, no indication or evidence that the vaccine was related or responsible.
In the UK, more than 11 million people have already received at least one dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine and there have been no signs of excessive death or blood clots. The European medicines regulator has also backed the vaccine, saying its benefits are obvious. Covid can be fatal and vaccination saves lives.
What did AstraZeneca say?
He said there was no evidence of an increased risk of clotting from the vaccine.
He said that in the EU and UK, 15 events of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) – a blood clot in a vein – and 22 events of pulmonary embolism – a blood clot that entered the lungs – had been reported among those vaccinated. .
AstraZeneca said those numbers were “much lower than one would naturally expect in a general population of this size and are similar for other licensed Covid-19 vaccines.”
“The nature of the pandemic has led to increased attention in individual cases and we are going beyond standard practices for monitoring the safety of licensed drugs by reporting vaccine events, to ensuring public safety,” said Ann Taylor , chief medical officer of the company.
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