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The European Medicines Agency said Wednesday that there was no evidence so far linking AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine to disease in two people who received it in Austria, one of whom died 10 days after being inoculated.
The Austrian national health authority suspended the use of a batch of the vaccine after one person who was vaccinated was diagnosed with multiple thrombosis and later died, and another was hospitalized with a pulmonary embolism.
“There is currently no indication that vaccination has caused these conditions, which are not listed as side effects of this vaccine,” the EMA said in its statement.
“Although a quality defect is considered unlikely at this stage, the quality of the batch is being investigated.”
Austria said on Sunday it would suspend vaccines with the batch as a precaution. The batch was shipped to 17 EU countries in total and comprised 1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
The Anglo-Swedish company has said that all batches are subject to strict and rigorous quality controls and that “no serious adverse events associated with the vaccine have been confirmed.” He said that he was in contact with the Austrian authorities and would fully support the investigation.
The EU regulator said the number of thromboembolic events, marked by the formation of blood clots in the body, in people who have received the AstraZeneca vaccine is no higher than that seen in the general population, with 22 cases of such events. reported among 3 million people who have received it as of March 9.
The EU approved the AstraZeneca injection in late January, saying it was effective and safe to use, while the World Health Organization listed it for emergency use in mid-February.
The adverse reactions observed in the trials were of short duration for the most part and no blood clotting problems were reported. – Reuters
