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German Health Minister Jens Spahn explains why his country is no longer vaccinated with the British-Swedish vaccine for now. The exhibition was also the subject of severe criticism.
“It happened very rarely”: Jens Spahn explains the surprising measure in Berlin.
Photo: Kay Nietfeld (DPA / AP / Keystone / March 15, 2021)
The suspension of the AstraZeneca vaccine in Germany dates back to seven cases of illness, according to Health Minister Jens Spahn. “It has happened very rarely,” Spahn said in Berlin on Monday.
His ministry had previously announced that vaccinations with the vaccine had been suspended for the time being as a precaution because there had been reports of cerebral vein thrombosis in connection with the vaccination. “So far there have been seven reported cases that are related to a cerebral vein thrombosis, with more than 1.6 million vaccinations in Germany now,” Spahn said. “This is a very low risk, but if it really should be related to vaccination, it is an above-average risk.”
According to the responsible Paul Ehrlich Institute, you should seek medical treatment if you feel unwell more than four days after vaccination, for example, with severe or persistent headaches or pinpoint skin bleeding, Spahn said.
Now it is the turn of the EMA
According to the German Robert Koch Institute, 1.65 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine had been administered in Germany as of Sunday. Except for a few hundred cases, all of these vaccines refer to the first of the two vaccines required for vaccination protection. The suspension now also affects all follow-up vaccines, Spahn said.
Now it is the turn of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), because they are working on a new evaluation of the vaccine. The minister is counting on the EMA to “ideally make its decision this week.” If the vaccine continues to be approved, the vaccines must also be started again.
EMA sticks to valuation
The EMA reported on the latest developments on Monday. She sticks to her evaluation of the AstraZeneca vaccine for now. So far there has been no evidence that the drug poses a serious health risk, said the head of the EMA’s department for vaccination strategies, Marco Cavaleri, at a hearing in the EU Parliament. “We do not see any problem in continuing the vaccination campaign with this vaccine.”
According to Cavaleri, this assessment is largely based on information from the UK, where the vaccine has been administered on a large scale since December. “Of course, we look closely at all the data, especially the fatal cases that have been reported.” The risk benefit of the vaccine is still rated positively. The EMA now plans to hold a special meeting on Thursday to discuss how to proceed, and the WHO in Geneva has announced that its team of experts on vaccination safety will meet on Tuesday.
The British-Swedish manufacturer of the vaccine dismissed the concerns. Co-developer Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, said there was “very reassuring evidence” that the vaccine had not caused an increase in blood clots in the UK, so far its main use in Europe.
France, Italy and Spain also suspend
After Germany, France, Italy and Spain announced last month that they would suspend vaccination with the Swedish-British manufacturer’s vaccine for the time being. France does not want to use the vaccine until the EMA has evaluated it, French President Emmanuel Macron said at the Franco-Spanish summit with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in Montauban, southwestern France. It is a “precautionary measure” and there is hope that vaccines with AstraZeneca can be resumed quickly. Macron said he wanted to suspend AstraZeneca until at least Tuesday afternoon.
There are questions about a vaccine: AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine.
Photo: Rungroj Yongrit (Keystone / March 12, 2021)
The Medicines Agency in Rome also said it was awaiting input from EU supervisors. Until then, the use of the vaccine is banned throughout Italy. There are now 15 European countries that have stopped using the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Denmark had already stopped vaccinating with the vaccine last week. It was followed by Norway, Iceland and the EU countries, Bulgaria, Ireland and the Netherlands. Austria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Luxembourg suspended the use of a certain lot of AstraZeneca, Italy and Romania stopped the use of another lot. Thailand, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Indonesia postponed the start of vaccination.
Strong criticism from the German left and the Greens
In Germany, Spahn’s move was criticized by politicians from the Greens, the SPD and the Left Party. “I think it’s a mistake,” said ZDF’s SPD health expert Karl Lauterbach. The vaccination ban will further reduce confidence in AstraZeneca, “there is no new data to justify the stop,” Lauterbach said.
“The AstraZeneca exposure destroys confidence in a good vaccine,” wrote left-wing European politician Erik Marquardt on Twitter, “simply because no one wants to take responsibility for decisions anymore.” “With this bureaucratic lethargy, you wouldn’t jump off a sinking ship in danger because you could get wet,” he continued.
SPD Katarina Barley’s European policy was also irritated. “The latest generation of birth control pills have thrombosis as a side effect in eight to twelve out of 10,000 women,” she wrote on Twitter. “Has that bothered anyone so far?”
“Mr. Spahn has to explain his erratic U-turn,” demanded the vice chairman of the FDP parliamentary group, Michael Theurer, in Berlin. This also includes the question of why the decision will be announced immediately after Sunday’s state elections and if new data is available, Theurer explained. The politician has pointed out that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) classifies previously known cases of thrombosis as “statistically completely normal” and recommends that the AstraZeneca vaccine continue to be used.
Green health expert Janosch Dahmen warned of the dire consequences of the decision on Twitter. The suspension of the use of AstraZeneca now coincides with the “start of the third wave” of the corona pandemic. The consequence should be: “Protective measures against the crown must now be intensified.”
The German Foundation for Patient Protection made serious accusations against Spahn. On Monday morning it was said “Keep it up” overlooking AstraZeneca. “And in the afternoon everything will stop,” said Eugen Brysch, a member of the Foundation’s board of directors, from the AFP news agency. Spahn “lights a conflagration.”
