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GENEVA: The World Health Organization said on Friday (March 12) that there was no reason to stop using AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine after several European countries suspended deployment for fear of blood clots.
The WHO said its vaccine advisory committee was analyzing safety data and emphasized that a causal link between the vaccine and clotting has not been established.
Health authorities in Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Italy and Romania postponed or limited the launch of AstraZeneca vaccines after isolated reports of recipients developing blood clots.
“AstraZeneca is an excellent vaccine, as are the other vaccines that are being used,” WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris told reporters at a briefing in Geneva.
“We have reviewed the data on deaths. To date, the deaths have not been shown to have been caused by vaccination,” he said.
“Yes, we must continue to use the AstraZeneca vaccine,” he added, emphasizing that “any safety signs should be investigated.”
“We must always make sure to look for safety signs when we launch vaccines, and we must check them,” he said. “But there is no indication not to use it.”
READ: Australia continues AstraZeneca rollout, says no evidence of blood clots
READ: Denmark and Norway temporarily suspend COVID injections from AstraZeneca after reports of blood clots
Top German public health officials said AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine was safe and that Germany would continue to use it.
With Germany still facing a vaccine shortage and a third wave of COVID-19, the government is eager to ensure that vaccine skepticism does not undermine the deployment it is betting on to control the pandemic.
“Everything we know so far suggests that the benefits of the vaccine, even after each individual case reported, outweigh the risks, and that is still the case,” Health Minister Jens Spahn said at a conference. press.
READ: Romania stops use of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine batch
Lothar Wieler, director of the Robert Koch Institute for Infectious Diseases, added that there was no statistical evidence of excess mortality after any coronavirus vaccine.
“Since we are now vaccinating the elderly and very old, and most of the people who die are, of course, old and very old, then there may be a chronological link between vaccination and death,” he said.
“There is no evidence that the link is statistically excessive,” Wieler added.
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