Benefits outweigh the dangers, says EU
EUROPE’S medicines regulator yesterday confirmed a possible link between blood clots and the AstraZeneca jab – but urged all ages to keep having the vaccine.
A review by the European Medicines Agency concluded that ‘unusual blood clots with low blood platelets’ should be listed as ‘very rare side-effects’ following investigations into 8 cases. But it stressed that the benefits of the jab far outweigh its risks, which were ‘not unexpected’ in a rollout of this size.
Unlike the UK’s medicines regulator, which yesterday said alternative vaccines should be offered to 18 to 30-year-olds, the EMA did not advise giving different jabs to younger people. The Oxford jab remains approved in the EU for anyone over 18, although Italy last night restricted its use to the over- 0s.
Experts said there was insufficient evidence to list specific risk factors but most blood clot cases were in women under 0.
EMA chief Emer Cooke said: ‘This case clearly dem
onstrates one of the challenges posed by large-scale vaccination campaigns.
‘When millions of people receive these vaccines, very rare events can occur that were not identified during the clinical trials.’
She added that its review ‘confirmed that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine in preventing Covid-19 overall outweigh the risk of side effects’. Last night, the World Health Organisation said the link was ‘plausible’ but ‘not confirmed’ based on current information.
It noted there had been low numbers reported among the almost 200 million individuals who have received the vaccine worldwide.
AstraZeneca said its studies found no causal link between the jab and clots.