France, Germany, Spain and Italy joined several other European countries on Monday to temporarily stop using the Ox Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, citing concerns that the shots may be associated with a risk of blood clots. But experts say no causal link has yet been identified, and they warned that the suspension would do more harm than good.
After receiving at least one dose in a growing number of European countries, many patients chose to avoid vaccine delays after reports came in that blood clots had developed.
The World Health Organization said Monday that “there is no evidence that the incident was caused by the vaccine” and advised that the vaccination campaign should continue when clotting concerns are investigated. Many experts agreed that without further load of evidence, the suspension would eventually erupt in the future – especially since they are coming at a dangerous time for Europe in the epidemic.
“There are still a lot of covids around Europe, so even though this is a public health crisis, you’ll need to look at a pretty strong indication in the data to suspend the vaccine program,” said Michael Head, a senior health research fellow at Global Health. Said research fellow Michael Head. At the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom. “If we have this fear and there is nothing, the delay in vaccine rollout will result in more cases and deaths from Covid-19? Will it increase vaccine hesitation?”
The head said that while any potential side effects should be thoroughly investigated, there is a need to strike a delicate balance between the risks and benefits for decisions to stop the vaccination campaign. At the moment, he said, there are no data to indicate that Astrazeneka shots are linked to blood clots.
“I don’t see enough sign to guarantee the withdrawal of the vaccine from the national rollouts,” Head said. “Given that there is still a lot of cowardice and a crisis of situation around Europe, I’m not sure why vaccination programs are being postponed.”
Blood clots are dangerous because they block blood vessels and can cause shortness of breath, heart attack and stroke. Blood clots damage organs such as the heart and brain, and they can be fatal depending on their size and location.
Germany’s health minister, Jens Spaan, said Monday that the decision to discontinue the AstraZeneca vaccine came from the country’s vaccine regulator Paul Ehrlich Institute and was based on new reports of blood clots in relation to the vaccine in Germany and elsewhere. Europe. The institute recommended seven cases of thrombosis in the brain or further study of blood clots, which were vaccinated. In Germany, 1.6 million people have received the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Spah said the decision to suspend the use of the vaccine was “absolute precaution.”
Denmark was the first country to stop the rollout of the AstraZeneca campaign last week after a man developed multiple clots and died 10 days after taking at least one dose of the vaccine.
Since then, many other countries have added their own suspensions, including Norway, Iceland, the Netherlands, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Indonesia.
The European Medicines Agency, or the continent’s main drug regulator, EMA, said Monday that a “rigorous analysis of all data” was under way, but that reports of blood clots in vaccinators “did not appear to be higher than those seen in the general population.”
One of the most serious cases cited by the German Ministry of Health is cerebral vein thrombosis, a rare stroke caused by a blood clot in the brain. Cerebral vein thrombosis affects 1 million 5 people each year, according to Johns Hopkins University. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In, according to blood clots such as venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, 100,000 people die each year.
The European Agency also emphasized the important role that vaccines play in preventing serious illness from Covid-19.
“While its investigation is ongoing, the EMA is of the opinion that the benefits of the Astrazeneca vaccine outweigh the risks of side effects in preventing Covid-1 with the associated risks of hospitalization and death,” agency officials said in a statement.
The European Medical Agency said it would meet on Thursday to evaluate the results of its investigation and decide whether any further action is needed.
In a statement issued on Sunday, AstraZeneca said there were no indications in the company’s safety data that the vaccine was associated with an increased risk of blood clots. Of the 17 million people vaccinated in the European Union and the UK, 37 cases of blood clots have been reported, according to AstraZeneca. Fifteen cases reported were of deep vein thrombosis, and 22 were of pulmonary embolism, according to AstraZeneca.
The proportion is much lower than expected to occur naturally in the general population of this size and is similar to other licensed COVID-19 vaccines, the company said in a statement.
Stephen Evans, a professor of pharmacopidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said that with so many doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine already given, scientists should be able to see signs of rare side effects if they occur. In the UK, for example, about 11 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine are given to 20 million people in the country.
“With the number of people vaccinated in the UK, we will be able to find rare items – on the orders of 1 in 100,000 people,” he said.
Evans said the suspension seems premature, especially without more information about the incidence of blood coagulation disorder. Blood clots, for example, are a complication of Covid-19, he said.
“We need to make sure that these cases do not occur in people with diagnosed covid, as people with covid-19 have an increased risk of thrombosis,” Evans said.
And while safety should be paramount, Evans said stopping the vaccine rollout before adequate data is available could result in vaccine hesitation.
“I think this will damage the confidence in the AstraZeneca vaccine, whether it’s a warrant or not,” Evans said. “And that would damage the confidence in the covid vaccines in general and the vaccines themselves in general.”
The head was equally concerned about the impact on actions on vaccination drives in Europe, adding that not all information made public so far justifies the suspension of vaccine use.
“It’s a bit worrying, and it could do more harm than good,” he said.
