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Following the uncertainty over AstraZeneca’s corona vaccine, several countries have discontinued its use. But after the European Medicines Agency has classified it as safe, vaccination campaigns will restart.
In several European countries, vaccination with AstraZeneca was initially interrupted for two weeks.
What are the problems with the AstraZeneca vaccine?
Several people who were vaccinated have been diagnosed with severe blood clots in Norway. They usually cause venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism; in rarer cases, clots can also clog arteries. Then, several countries suspended vaccines against AstraZeneca for two weeks. Authorities in all affected states stated at the same time that no connection between vaccination and blood clots had been proven. On Thursday (March 18) the European Medicines Agency (EMA) announced after an investigation of around 30 complications that the AstraZeneca vaccine was “safe and effective”. However, an additional warning against rare blood clots in the cerebral veins is included in the case of possible side effects.
How will the vaccination bans continue?
After the cases became known, several countries stopped vaccinating with AstraZeneca for the time being. Including Germany, France, Italy, Austria and Spain. After the EMA announced on Thursday (March 18) that the vaccine was basically safe, most states announced that they wanted to restart vaccines with the AstraZeneca vaccine.
The AstraZeneca vaccine is not yet approved in Switzerland.
Where was the vaccination most carried out?
The UK continued to vaccinate with AstraZeneca. The UK regulatory agency said 11 million Britons had so far been vaccinated with AstraZeneca. Statistically, no more cases of blood clots were found in those vaccinated than would occur in the general population.
Based on what data did the Paul Ehrlich Institute recommend a temporary cessation of vaccination?
There appear to be seven cases of cerebral vein thrombosis in Germany. These are blood clots in the blood vessels of the brain. The number may indicate a slight increase in this very rare form of blood clot. Because with 1.6 million vaccinations in Germany that corresponds to about four cases per million vaccinated since the beginning of February.
Typically, this very rare form of thrombosis occurs two to five times in a million people in a full year. However, there are also studies that assume a higher incidence of up to 15 cases per million people per year. In the UK, according to the latest media reports (March 18), there have been five cases of cerebral vein thrombosis out of a total of more than 11 million inoculated doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
How is AstraZeneca reacting to the incidents?
On Sunday (March 14) the British-Swedish company AstraZeneca again denied concerns about the safety of its vaccine after an analysis of vaccination data. An analysis of safety data from more than 17 million vaccinated people in the EU and UK did not provide any evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis or low platelet counts, the pharmaceutical company said.
Are venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism rare?
Not at all. The disease, also known as venous thromboembolism, occurs with a frequency of about 1 in 1000 people per year. Older people are at special risk. Two thirds of patients with thrombosis and emboli are over 60 years of age. In addition to age, genetic risk factors, various diseases such as cancer or certain medications (birth control pills) also increase the individual risk of thrombosis. However, cerebral vein thrombosis is relatively rare, 100 times less common than pulmonary embolism.
There have been concerns about the AstraZeneca vaccine before. What about that?
At the beginning of the corona vaccination campaign, there was no reliable information on the protective effect of the vaccine in people over 65 years of age due to lack of data. That is why doubts arose. French President Emmanuel Macron, for example, publicly expressed this, but later withdrew it. Meanwhile, however, data from Great Britain clearly shows that AstraZeneca also protects people over 80 from illness that leads to hospitalization. Canada decided on March 16 to recommend the AstraZeneca vaccine to people 65 and older.
The AstraZeneca vaccine is not yet approved in Switzerland. Could this be happening soon?
According to the licensing authority Swissmedic, relevant clinical studies are currently lacking, while available data from Great Britain cannot make up for them. Specifically, they are expecting in particular a study from the US, which should be completed soon. Due to the continuing shortage of vaccines, additional preparation would be welcome in Switzerland.
Were there comparable problems with other corona vaccines?
There have been incidents, but so far no causal link with the administration of the vaccine has been demonstrated. It is important to be aware of relationships: if many millions of people get vaccinated, some serious medical problems can arise, but these are not caused directly by the vaccine. Serious side effects from the corona vaccine are extremely rare. Incidentally, the Pfizer / Biontech vaccine was also affected, in which some very elderly patients died shortly after vaccination. This made news in the media, but investigation of the cases showed that it was not related to vaccination. Also in Hong Kong, people died after being vaccinated with the Chinese Sinovac vaccine, but experts there were also unable to find a direct causal relationship with the vaccine. It is now important that incidents in Scandinavia are thoroughly investigated so that clarity can also be created in these cases.
