AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine is safe, effective: European Medicines Agency
Pharmacy Technician Katrina Bonwick draws a does of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine ready for use at the Wheatfield surgery in Luton, England.
AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine is safe and effective, the European Medicines Agency said on Thursday.
“The evidence we have, as of now, is not sufficient to conclude with certainty whether these events are caused by vaccine or not. PRAC will gather more info on these conditions and it is important that these events are rare,” Dr Sabine Straus, chair of EMA’s safety committee (PRAC) said.
“As of last night, seven cases of this disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) and 18 cases of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) were reported out of almost 20 million vaccinated people,” Dr Sabine Straus added.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) was due to provide an assessment of the safety of Astrazeneca’s vaccine against Covid-19 after several countries temporarily suspended use of the jab over fears about side effects.
The EMA’s safety committee has been making a detailed evaluation of a small number of cases concerning blood clots occurring in recipients of the vaccine, reports dpa news agency.
The European nations that has halted the usage of the vaccine are France Germany, Italy, Spain, Slovenia, Cyprus, Portugal,Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, Romania, Estonia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, the Netherlands, as well as non-EU countries of Norway and Iceland. Many said they were waiting for guidance from the EMA.
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Both the EMA and the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended continuing inoculation with AstraZeneca’s vaccine until further notice, noting its benefits outweighed the risks of Covid-19.
(With inputs from IANS)
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