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The Democratic Republic of the Congo will postpone its AstraZeneca vaccination campaign, which was originally scheduled to start on Monday. It tracks actions taken by countries taking similar precautionary measures against fears of blood clots.
The DRC had received 1.7 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine manufactured by the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca and was due to start its campaign on March 15.
However, Health Minister Eteni Longondo said in a statement released on Saturday that “as a precautionary measure, we have decided to postpone the date for the launch of the vaccination in the DRC”.
“Some countries have suspended their precautionary vaccination plans because they reported problems with thrombosis and death. So far there is no evidence that these problems are related to the vaccine,” he said. he declares.
Minister Longondo added that a new date for the DRC’s vaccination campaign would be announced shortly, after the publication of the results of national and international surveys.
The DRC has reported 717 deaths from Covid-19 and more than 26,000 cases of infection.
Denmark, Norway, Bulgaria and Iceland have stopped using the vaccine as a precaution over fears of blood clots.
Indian officials said on Saturday they would conduct a further examination of its post-vaccination side effects.
In France, Health Minister Olivier Véran said the national medical agency had encouraged him to stick to the European medicines regulator’s decision that the AstraZeneca vaccine was not dangerous.
The World Health Organization has said no evidence has been found establishing a direct link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and blood clotting.
The company insists the vaccine is safe and that “no evidence” exists of a higher risk of blood clots.
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