EU Regulator Declares AstraZeneca Vaccine ‘Safe And Effective’

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has concluded that the
Oxford-AstraZeneca (AZN.L) COVID-19 vaccine is “safe and effective”
for use.

The review from the medicines regulator comes after a string of
European countries suspended their rollouts of the vaccine after
fears it caused blood clotting.

The EMA said it would continue to study possible links between
rare blood clots and the vaccine.

Several EU countries, including Germany, France and the Republic
of Ireland, paused the use of the jab earlier this week.

Italy, Austria, Estonia, Latvia, Luxembourg and Lithuania also
stopped using certain batches as a precaution after reports that a
50-year-old man had died in Italy after developing deep vein
thrombosis (DVT).

Around 5 million Europeans have already received the AstraZeneca
jab.

On Monday afternoon, the German government said it would
temporarily halt the use of the vaccine. The country’s health
minister said the decision was taken on the advice of Germany’s
national vaccine regulator, the Paul Ehrlich Institute, which
called for further investigation into seven reported cases of clots
in the brains of people who had been vaccinated.

The decision was “a purely precautionary measure,” Jens Spahn
said.

The Netherlands, Bulgaria, Denmark and Norway were also among
the countries that paused its use, as well as Thailand, Iceland and
Congo.

In a statement, AstraZeneca said there was no evidence of an
increased risk of clotting due to the vaccine.

The company said that across the EU and the United Kingdom there
had been 15 events of deep-vein thrombosis and 22 events of
pulmonary embolism reported among more than 17 million people
vaccinated.

Ann Taylor, the firm’s chief medical officer, said on Monday:
“Around 17 million people in the EU and UK 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.”

She added: “The nature of the pandemic has led to increased
attention in individual cases and we are going beyond the standard
practices for safety monitoring of licensed medicines in reporting
vaccine events, to ensure public safety.”

Earlier on Thursday the World Health Organisation, which is set
to release its own results of the vaccine’s safety, again backed
the AstraZeneca jab after doing so on Wednesday.

WHO Europe director Hans Kluge said: “Benefits of the
AstraZeneca vaccine outweigh any risks and its use should continue
to save lives.”

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has concluded that the
Oxford-AstraZeneca (AZN.L) COVID-19 vaccine is “safe and effective”
for use.

The review from the medicines regulator comes after a string of
European countries suspended their rollouts of the vaccine after
fears it caused blood clotting.

The EMA said it would continue to study possible links between
rare blood clots and the vaccine.

Several EU countries, including Germany, France and the Republic
of Ireland, paused the use of the jab earlier this week.

Italy, Austria, Estonia, Latvia, Luxembourg and Lithuania also
stopped using certain batches as a precaution after reports that a
50-year-old man had died in Italy after developing deep vein
thrombosis (DVT).

Around 5 million Europeans have already received the AstraZeneca
jab.

On Monday afternoon, the German government said it would
temporarily halt the use of the vaccine. The country’s health
minister said the decision was taken on the advice of Germany’s
national vaccine regulator, the Paul Ehrlich Institute, which
called for further investigation into seven reported cases of clots
in the brains of people who had been vaccinated.

The decision was “a purely precautionary measure,” Jens Spahn
said.

The Netherlands, Bulgaria, Denmark and Norway were also among
the countries that paused its use, as well as Thailand, Iceland and
Congo.

In a statement, AstraZeneca said there was no evidence of an
increased risk of clotting due to the vaccine.

The company said that across the EU and the United Kingdom there
had been 15 events of deep-vein thrombosis and 22 events of
pulmonary embolism reported among more than 17 million people
vaccinated.

Ann Taylor, the firm’s chief medical officer, said on Monday:
“Around 17 million people in the EU and UK 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.”

She added: “The nature of the pandemic has led to increased
attention in individual cases and we are going beyond the standard
practices for safety monitoring of licensed medicines in reporting
vaccine events, to ensure public safety.”

Earlier on Thursday the World Health Organisation, which is set
to release its own results of the vaccine’s safety, again backed
the AstraZeneca jab after doing so on Wednesday.

WHO Europe director Hans Kluge said: “Benefits of the
AstraZeneca vaccine outweigh any risks and its use should continue
to save lives.”