No clot risk linked to AstraZeneca vaccine
EUROPE’S medicines regulator reiterated its backing of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, saying no particular group of age, sex or a previous medical history was especially susceptible to blood clotting after receiving the shot.
However, while repeating that the vaccine’s benefits outweigh risks, it cautioned that people should be aware of the “remote possibility” of rare blood clots occurring, and must seek immediate medical attention in case of symptoms.
“A causal link with the vaccine is not proven, but is possible and further analysis is continuing,” the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said in a statement.
EMA issued the statement after a hearing with a panel of independent external experts. It spoke after several countries including Canada, Germany,
France and Spain limited use of the drugmaker’s shot, after reports of a rare clotting condition following vaccination. Investigations by EMA and several national authorities in the EU continue, after initial probes deemed the vaccine safe for use after reports of a brain clotting ailment known as cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST).
A high proportion among the reported cases affected young and middle-aged women but that did not lead EMA to conclude this cohort was particularly at risk from AstraZeneca’s shot.
Women were generally more prone to CVST than men and twice as many women as men had received AstraZeneca’s shot in the EU so far, said EMA’s head of safety monitoring, Peter Arlett.