New Delhi: World Health Organization experts on Wednesday recommended countries continue to use the AstraZeneca vaccine, but said they were looking into the jab’s safety after a slew of countries suspended its use over health fears.
“The WHO Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety is carefully assessing the latest available safety data,” the UN health agency said in a statement.
Sweden, Lithuania and Latvia on Tuesday became the latest countries to suspend the use of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine over blood clot concerns, following in the footsteps of Germany, France, Spain, Italy and Ireland, among other European nations. More than a dozen European countries have temporarily paused use of the vaccine.
French President Emmanuel Macron says that France is suspending the use of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine use out of precaution.
Macron told a news conference on Monday that French authorities have decided to suspend shots at least until Tuesday afternoon, when the European Medicines Agency will issue its recommendation over the vaccine. He didn’t elaborate on the reasons for the decision.
He said France hopes to be able to vaccine again with AstraZeneca shots “soon.”
Irish health officials on Sunday recommended the temporary suspension of the AstraZeneca vaccine after reports of serious blood clotting after inoculations in Norway.
Dr. Ronan Glynn, Ireland’s deputy chief medical officer, said the recommendation was made after Norway’s medicines agency reported four cases of blood clotting in adults after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine.
He said that while there was no conclusive link between the vaccine and the cases, Irish health officials are recommending the suspension of the vaccine’s rollout as a precaution. Danish, Norwegian and Icelandic authorities have taken similar precautionary steps.
AstraZeneca said in a statement Sunday that it “would like to offer its reassurance on the safety of its COVID-19 vaccine based on clear scientific evidence.”
“The safety of the public will always come first,” the British-Swedish biopharmaceutical company said, adding that it’s “keeping this issue under close review but available evidence does not confirm that the vaccine is the cause.”
Notably, AstraZeneca has an agreement with Serum Institute of India.