The World Health Organization said countries should not stop using AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine about people who feared people developing blood clots.
in Gave information on friday, WHO spokesman Margaret Harris said no reason was linked between the “excellent” shot of the British drugmaker and the blood clotting cases encountered in Europe.
“It is very important to understand that, yes, we should continue to use the AstraZeneca vaccine,” Harris said.
The WHO’s Expert Vaccine Advisory Committee is nonetheless reviewing reported blood clots, leading nearly a dozen countries to suspend or delay the delivery of AstraZeneca’s vaccine.
Denmark, Norway, Iceland have stopped using the shot because Danish authorities reported “serious cases” of blood clots in vaccinated people, one of which was related to death.
Six countries, including Italy and Austria, halted the use of two separate batches of the vaccine on similar concerns, while Thailand has pushed back its vaccine rollout. Bulgaria halted the vaccination of AstraZeneca on Friday after the death of a woman with no signs of blood clots.
Harris said that more than 268 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been given worldwide and none of them have died. He reportedly said that coronavirus vaccination “does not reduce deaths from any other cause.”
“We should always make sure that we look for any safety signs when we roll the vaccine, and we should review them,” Harris said. According to Agnes France-Presse News agency. “But there is no indication not to use it.”
AstraZeneca said that it has been found no proof There is an increased risk of pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis – conditions marked by the formation of blood clots – in more than 10 million records of safety data for its vaccine.
The European Medicines Agency of the European Union similarly said on Thursday that there is no indication that AstraZeneca’s shot causes blood clots, noting that the benefits of the vaccine reduce its risks.
AstraZeneca’s shot is expected to play an important role in the WHO’s COVAX initiative, which aims to distribute 2 billion vaccine doses this year and ensure that poorer countries can use vaccination.
The Cambridge, UK company plans to supply 142 countries with “hundreds of millions of doses” through the initiative in the coming months. Said last week.
AstraZeneca’s US-listed shares fell nearly 1.4 percent to $ 48.01 in early Friday trading.
With post wires
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