IRELAND SUSPENDS USAGE OF OXFORD-ASTRAZENECA VACCINE
Ireland suspended use of the COVID-19 vaccine by Oxford-AstraZeneca on Sunday, citing reports of unusual blood clotting problems among people who recently received shots in Norway.
The decision followed a new advisory from Norway on Saturday that four people given the AstraZeneca vaccine had experienced blood clotting issues and all had low platelet counts. Leading public health agencies, including the World Health Organization, point out that millions of people have received the vaccine without experiencing such blood clotting issues, and that experts have not found a causative link between any of the vaccines and the conditions.
“The decision to temporarily suspend use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine was based on new information from Norway that emerged late last night,” Ireland’s health minister, Stephen Donnelly, said on Twitter. “This is a precautionary step.”
The Netherlands followed suit late Sunday, suspending vaccinations with the AstraZeneca shot as a precaution for two weeks. The health ministry said the move followed six new reports in Denmark and Norway of blood clotting and lowered levels of blood platelets in people aged under 50.
Regulators like the European Medicines Agency are investigating to determine whether there is any evidence of any link.
AstraZeneca defended its vaccine Sunday, saying that the company is monitoring its safety.
“Around 17 million people in the EU and U.K. have now received our vaccine, and the number of cases of blood clots reported in this group is lower than the hundreds of cases that would be expected among the general population,” Ann Taylor, the company’s chief medical officer, said in a statement.
Karina Butler, chair of Ireland’s immunization advisory committee, said the panel made its recommendation while agencies were investigating.
“We will continue to monitor the situation, and if we can be satisfied that these events are coincidental and not caused by this vaccine, we will reassess the situation,” Butler said.
No such cases have been reported to Ireland’s medicine regulators, with more than 117,000 doses of the vaccine administered in the country. Of the newest reports in Norway, one patient died from an unexpected brain hemorrhage, and the three others with severe cases of blood clots or brain hemorrhages were being treated in a hospital, according to the Norwegian Medicines Agency.
That agency issued an advisory for people younger than 50 who had received the AstraZeneca vaccine in the past two weeks, and who feel increasingly unwell with several large blue patches on their skin more than three days after vaccination, to consult doctors or other medical advice as soon as possible.