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Barrage of announcements from European countries following recent reports of thrombosis cases. Extraordinary meeting of the European Medicines Agency to assess the situation. The World Health Organization (WHO) assures that it will review the situation. What decisions did the Greek National Vaccination Committee make?
The announcements of suspensions of the vaccination program of the EU countries with the AstraZeneca vaccine take the form of an avalanche. The noise that arose from the thrombosis case reports puts thousands of vaccines on ice, overturning the schedules that had been established.
Germany, Italy, France, the Netherlands and Spain have decided to suspend
The German Ministry of Health, which on Monday morning stressed in every tone that it continues to administer the AstraZeneca vaccine against Covid-19 based on the recommendations of the European Medicines Agency, took a 360-degree turn and in the Later that day, he announced the suspension of vaccines to the country’s population following a recommendation from the Paul Ehrlich Institute.
At an emergency press conference, German Health Minister Jens Spann described the decision as a “preventive suspension,” which he said was part of the government’s “open and transparent” approach to communicating with citizens about the virus.
On Wednesday (03/17) Angela Merkel and the prime ministers of the states will have a videoconference on the vaccination strategy. The appointment was preset, but after the developments the topic of discussion will be AstraZeneca and the consequences of the planning delays.
A few minutes after the Berlin announcement, French President Emanuel Macron decided to suspend the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine as a precautionary measure, pending the decision of the European Medicines Agency (Coreper).
“On the recommendation of the Ministry of Health,” Macron said in consultation with health authorities, the decision is to suspend vaccination with the AstraZeneca vaccine as a precautionary measure in the hope that it will resume as soon as possible if the recommendation [του ΕΜΑ] is positive “.
Around the same time, Italy announced a similar decision, where at least two deaths are being investigated, and the prosecution, in Sicily and Piedmont.
The decision to temporarily suspend the administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine throughout Italy was made after a conversation between the Minister of Health, Roberto Speranza, and the Italian Prime Minister, Mario Draghi.
The Italian Medicines Agency, Aifa, said in a statement that it had decided “temporarily and preventively, pending a decision by the European Medicines Agency (Coreper), to ban the AstraZeneca vaccine against covid 19” throughout the country. It adds that “the decision was made along the same lines as similar decisions made in other European countries.”
Spain announced a temporary suspension of vaccines for 15 days, while Cyprus also postpones vaccines until Thursday (03/18).
The suspension bombardment was initiated by the Netherlands, which was the first country in the last 24 hours to announce the suspension of vaccines.
Extraordinary meeting of the European Medicines Agency
The correspondent for “Ef.Syn”. In Brussels, Maria Psara, relayed that the European Medicines Agency held an extraordinary meeting this Thursday to assess the situation in Europe after the flood of countries that decided to “freeze” vaccination with the AstraZeneca vaccine. However, in its announcement, Coreper claims that the benefits outweigh the dangerous side effects with the Safety Committee (PRAC) reviewing the information further on Tuesday (03/16).
“Many thousands of people develop blood clots each year in the EU for different reasons,” he said, adding that “the number of thromboembolic events in vaccinated individuals in general does not appear to be higher than in the general population.”
It states, among other things, that “EMA works closely with the company, blood disorders specialists and other health authorities, including the UK MHRA, based on its experience with approximately 11 million doses of the vaccine.”
► With the news “underway” and the World Health Organization has scheduled for Tuesday (03/16) a meeting of experts on the subject with the AstraZeneca vaccine
The countries that preceded
Note that despite assurances from both the pharmaceutical industry and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) that there is no evidence that vaccination with the drug poses an increased risk of blood clots, ten other countries in Europe have stopped receiving the vaccine.
Ireland also announced on Sunday that it would suspend the AstraZeneca vaccine, following Norway’s announcement that three healthcare workers and one civilian had thrombosis a few days after being vaccinated.
Norway, Iceland and Denmark announced the suspension of the vaccine on Thursday, followed by Bulgaria on Friday and Thailand on Friday.
Μας In our country, the National Vaccination Committee classified thrombosis cases as “individual” – one has also been registered in Greece – and ruled that the vaccination process in our country should proceed normally. The Commission will meet again on Tuesday morning (at 9:00 am). The meeting will discuss the issue that has arisen with the vaccine as well as all developments at the European level.
