Dr K K Aggarwal President CMAAO, HCFI,
COVID: Several European countries halt use of AstraZeneca vaccine
Denmark, Iceland and Norway have stopped administering the shot while Italy has banned the use of a batch of AstraZeneca doses as a precaution after an unconfirmed number of people developed blood clots.
Health authorities in Denmark, Norway and Iceland on Thursday suspended the use of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine after reports of blood clots among some people who had received the inoculation. The Danish Health Authority halted the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine for 14 days. It follows reports of "serious cases of blood clots among vaccinated people,". The Danish Medicines Agency launched an investigation into the vaccine.
On Monday, Austria stopped using AstraZeneca shots while investigating a death from coagulation disorders and an illness from a pulmonary embolism. Spain and France, meanwhile, said the AstraZeneca vaccine would continue to be administered to citizens in the respective countries. And French Health Minister Olivier Veran said: "There is no need to suspend AstraZeneca. The upside of vaccinations at this stage outweighs the risks."
There had been 22 cases of such events being reported among the 3 million people who have received the AstraZeneca shot as of March 9. A delivery of 1 million doses of the vaccine developed by the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company vaccine went to 17 EU countries.
