DUBLIN: The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is expected to complete its safety review of issues related to the AstraZeneca vaccine this week. This is due to the fact that several countries in Europe, including Ireland, have suspended the use of the vaccine.
Germany, France, Italy and Spain have suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine. As a precautionary measure, Ireland also stopped using the vaccine from yesterday.
The EMA said information about the AstraZeneca vaccine would be reviewed by its safety committee today and an extraordinary meeting would be held on Thursday to end the problems.
World Health Organization says AstraZeneca is safe
The World Health Organization (WHO) said the advisory panel had assessed the problem and there was no evidence that the vaccine had caused any health problems. The organization says it is important to continue immunizations to save lives and prevent the deadly virus from spreading.
The agency’s vaccine safety experts will meet today to discuss the AstraZeneca jab, said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “WHO’s advisory committee on vaccine safety has been reviewing the available data, is in close contact with the European Medicines Agency,” he said.
Blood clots are normal but accidental
The head of the International Health and Tropical Medicine at the RCSI, Professor Sam McConkey, said that blood clotting is a normal occurrence that can happen by chance. Blood clots form in thousands of people each year for a variety of reasons.
It is important to know if the rate of blood clots is high in the first week or two days after vaccination. McConkey noted that the EMA would request a detailed dossier on each of the four blood clot cases from Norwegian authorities. They will be looking to see if there were clots, how serious they were, and what type of clots they were.
It is important to know if the blood clotting in those who have been vaccinated with AstraZeneca vaccine is higher than in the average population. AstraZeneca has data on millions of people who have been vaccinated. They can also provide it, so it’s easy for the EMA to do an independent review.
Prof. McConaughey said the suspension of the administration of AstraZeneca vaccines was a sign of a “cautious, well-run, prudent programme.”
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