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Three health workers have been admitted to a hospital in Helse Sør-Øst with a blood clot. They should have received the Astra Zenaca vaccine. The National Institute of Public Health calls a press conference at 4 pm on Saturday.
Two relatively young health workers in Norway are hospitalized with severe blood clots. Health authorities will now investigate whether the condition is related to the Astra Zenaca corona vaccine.
Health workers are said to have recently received the vaccine.
Both patients should be treated at Rikshospitalet. It is not known if there is a causal link between the vaccine and severe cases of the disease.
Aftenposten learned on Friday that there are two health workers who have been admitted with a blood clot. On Saturday afternoon, the Oslo University Hospital (OUS) confirmed that there is talk of another.
The third was admitted to Rikshospitalet this afternoon.
The Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) and the Norwegian Medicines Agency have urgently convened a press conference “on the suspected side effects of the Astra Zeneca vaccine” at 4pm on Saturday.
The two health workers are being treated for blood clots at Rikshospitalet. Photo: Håkon Mosvold Larsen
The Norwegian Medicines Agency is investigating reports of deaths
On Friday, the Norwegian Medicines Agency and FHI were notified of a death after vaccination with the Astra Zeneca vaccine inside. It has not been concluded that there is a link between the vaccine and unexpected death. This will be considered thoroughly.
In a press release, FHI writes that they are waiting for more information before the incident can be considered further. Death refers to a younger person who is a health worker. There is no suspicion that the person died from a blood clot.
Discontinued use of Astra Zeneca vaccine
Two people in Europe died of blood clots after receiving a dose of the Astra Zeneca vaccine. This is the background to the decision to suspend vaccination, which occurred on Thursday of this week. A 60-year-old woman has died in Denmark and a 49-year-old nurse has died in Austria.
– Due to side effects in Denmark, in Norway we opted to stop vaccination with the Astra Zeneca vaccine, FHI director of infection control Geir Bukholm said when meeting with the press.
127,400 doses of the Astra Zeneca vaccine have been distributed in Norway, according to FHI. 121,820 of these doses have been set. Bukholm said the shutdown could cause delays in the vaccine program.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) believes that the benefit of the vaccine outweighs the risk of using it. The vaccine can still be used while blood clot cases are being investigated, they write on the agency’s website.
Like Norway, Denmark and Iceland have stopped all vaccinations with Astra Zeneca. Several countries have stopped part of the vaccination. Among them are Austria, Italy, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Luxembourg and Romania, reports the BBC.
The Astra Zeneca vaccine is now being discontinued in several countries. Photo: REUTERS / Henry Nicholls / File Photo
– Patient safety the most important
Astra Zeneca, which has developed the vaccine in collaboration with the University of Oxford, does not wish to comment on individual cases, but claims to be aware that a possible connection between the company’s vaccines and blood clots is being investigated.
The pharmaceutical giant stresses that it has patient safety as its top priority.
– The safety of the vaccine has been thoroughly investigated in phase 3 studies, and peer-reviewed data confirms that the vaccine is generally well tolerated, the Swedish-British company writes in a comment to the Ritzau news agency. Thursday.
Believe that vaccination stops creating unnecessary fears
One of Norway’s leading experts on blood clots, Per Morten Sandset, believes that stopping the vaccine leads to unnecessary fear. He is surprised that the vaccine is stopped and refers to the UK result.
There, 11 million have received the Astra Zeneca vaccine, without showing an increased risk of blood clots.
– Therefore, I am confident that the Astra Zeneca vaccine is effective and safe. I’m surprised he stops the vaccine when he has such good data internationally, said Sandset, who is vice chancellor for research and innovation at the University of Oslo.
Health and Care Services Minister Bent Høie told Aftenposten on Friday that he believes the shutdown will lead to greater confidence in the vaccine and the vaccine’s work.
He agrees that there are good professional arguments for not stopping the deployment of the vaccine. On the other hand, he is concerned that there will be more riots and many questions as he continues with the launch.
– It is support for vaccination that ultimately decides whether we really vaccinate people, the Minister of Health said on Friday.
Failure alert for scheduled vaccine delivery
Astra Zeneca announced on Saturday that they will again deliver fewer doses of vaccines to the EU than previously planned.
“Astra Zeneca is disappointed to have to announce a failure in planned deliveries of the covid-19 vaccine to the European Union, even though we have worked tirelessly to accelerate supplies,” a statement said Saturday.
On Friday, Sweden’s vaccine manager announced that they will receive 3.3 million fewer doses of vaccine than expected in the first half of 2021, according to NTB.
When the National Institute of Public Health contacted the manufacturer on Friday, they received a response that this will not be important for the delivery to Norway.
This means that Astra Zeneca will continue to deliver 670,000 doses of vaccines to Norway in the second quarter.
