■ The EU’S drug regulator insisted the Astrazeneca vaccine is safe.
Says benefits outweigh any risk of side effects
BRUSSELS — The European Union’s drug regulator insisted Tuesday that there is “no indication” the Astrazeneca vaccine causes blood clots as governments around the world faced the grimmest of dilemmas: push on with a vaccine known to save lives or suspend its use over reports of clotting in some recipients.
The European Medicines Agency urged governments not to halt use of the vaccine at a time when the pandemic is still taking thousands of lives each day. Already there are concerns that even brief suspensions could have disastrous effects on confidence in inoculation campaigns around the world.
“We are still firmly convinced that the benefits of the Astrazeneca vaccine in preventing COVID-19 with its associated risk of hospitalization and death outweigh the risk of the side effects,” said Emer Cooke, the head of the agency.
Many scientists have argued that even the loss of a few days in vaccinating vulnerable people could be far costlier than the impact of any rare phenomenon.
But a cascading number of countries have taken a different view and locked away shots from the Anglo-swedish company, awaiting the results of an EMA review, promised Thursday.
Sweden was the latest to do so Tuesday, choosing caution over speed, even as Cooke insisted “that at present there is no indication that vaccination has caused these conditions.”
The choice may be even more fraught elsewhere because many countries are relying heavily on Astrazeneca, which is cheaper and easier to handle than some other shots. The vaccine has played a huge role in the global initiative to ensure vaccines get to poorer countries known as COVAX.
The difficulty of the decision was clear in Thailand, the first country outside Europe to temporarily suspend use of the Astrazeneca vaccine, only to recant on Tuesday — when its prime minister received a dose.
“There are people who have concerns,” Prayuth Chan-ocha said after getting the shot. “But we must believe doctors, believe in our medical professionals.”
Many other countries in Asia have likewise shrugged off concerns, but Indonesia, a nation of over a quarter-billion people, halted use of the shot this week, saying it would wait for a World Health Organization report on the issue.
In other developments:
■ A World Health Organization spokesman said a widely expected report by a team of experts who traveled to China to look into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic is “likely” to be pushed back until next week.
■ China has approved a new COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, one that was developed by the head of its Center for Disease Control, adding a fifth shot to its arsenal.
■ Faced with a possible flood of visitors from Germany later this month, authorities in Spain’s Balearic Islands are warning hotel owners that tourists must adhere to coronavirus restrictions the same way residents do.