Possible side effects: Germany suspends AstraZeneca vaccines

Germany temporarily suspends corona vaccines with the active ingredient in AstraZeneca. This is what the federal Minister of Health, Spahn, said. Previously, other countries had already suspended vaccinations due to the possible side effects of the preparation.

Germany is suspending corona vaccines with the AstraZeneca preparation for the time being. After new reports of cerebral vein thrombosis in connection with vaccination in Germany and Europe, the Paul Ehrlich Institute considers more research necessary, said Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn. However, it is purely a precautionary measure. “We went out to check,” said the CDU politician. The result of the review is open.

The Paul Ehrlich Institute, which is responsible for vaccines in Germany, wrote on its website that when analyzing the data, “a remarkable accumulation of a very rare special form of cerebral vein thrombosis related to a lack of platelets in the blood and bleeding near vaccinations with the Covid-19 AstraZeneca vaccine. ”

Several other countries had previously suspended vaccinations with the agent, due to a possible increased risk of blood clots in relation to the active ingredient. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) will decide “whether and how the new findings will affect the approval of the vaccine,” Spahn said.

Seven cases of 1.6 million vaccines

With more than 1.6 million vaccines with the active ingredient AstraZeneca in Germany so far, there are seven cases that could be related to cerebral vein thrombosis, Spahn said. “So this is a very low risk,” Spahn said. “But if it’s actually related to vaccination, the risk is above average.”

The decision to stop vaccines with the AstraZeneca preparation was professional and not political, Spahn said. And to trust the vaccine, the most important thing is to follow professional recommendations. Until the end of the trial, all first and second vaccinations with AstraZeneca are suspended. “We are all well aware of the importance of this decision,” added Spahn. But the question of whether the benefits of the vaccines outweigh the possible risks must be clarified, the minister said.

France and Italy also suspend vaccines

The German government initially waived the suspension of AstraZeneca vaccines after Denmark was the first country to take this step last week. Copenhagen had referred to several cases of severe blood clots after vaccination with the vaccine. It was followed by Norway, Iceland and the EU countries, Bulgaria, Ireland and the Netherlands. Austria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Luxembourg discontinued the use of a specific lot of AstraZeneca; Romania stopped using another batch.

Italy had initially only suspended vaccines with one batch of AstraZeneca. Meanwhile, vaccines with the drug have been suspended across the country. This was announced by the Italian drug agency Aifa. The use will be stopped as a precaution and temporarily until a decision from the European Medicines Agency EMA is available, it said in a message. Therefore, the decision was made in line with that of other European countries. France also suspended vaccinations with the vaccine.

The manufacturer sticks to the preparation

The British-Swedish manufacturer AstraZeneca emphasized that the analysis of more than 10 million cases “showed no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism or thrombosis.” Co-developer Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, said there was “very reassuring evidence” that the vaccine had not caused an increase in blood clots in the UK, so far its main use in Europe.

AstraZeneca recently issued an advisory reiterating the vaccine’s safety “based on clear scientific evidence.” A careful analysis of all the available safety data from more than 17 million people who were vaccinated with the drug in the European Union and the United Kingdom showed no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis or a decrease in blood pressure. blood platelets, he said. .

Vaccination experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) will receive vaccine advice from AstraZeneca on Tuesday. The advisory panel has verified the data on the vaccine’s safety and is “in close contact with the EMA,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Criticism of the vaccination freeze

So far, according to the Robert Koch Institute, more than 1.6 million doses of the vaccine have been administered in Germany, with around 9.4 million first and second vaccinations in total. The suspension of the use of the vaccine was criticized by politicians of the SPD and the Left Party. “I think it’s a mistake,” said Karl Lauterbach, an SPD health expert. ZDF. The vaccination ban will further reduce confidence in AstraZeneca, “there is no new data to justify the stop,” Lauterbach said.

SPD Katarina Barley’s European policy was also irritated. “The latest generation of birth control pills have thrombosis as a side effect in eight to twelve out of 10,000 women. Has that bothered anyone so far?” She wrote on Twitter.