ITALY, FRANCE SUSPEND USE OF ASTRAZENECA CORONAVIRUS VACCINE

Mon 15 March 2021:

European countries France and Italy suspended the use of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine over safety fears on Monday.

Several EU countries have called a halt to the AstraZeneca vaccine after reports from Denmark and Norway of possible serious side-effects, including bleeding and blood clots.

The WHO said its advisory panel was reviewing reports related to the shot and would release its findings as soon as possible. But it said it was unlikely to change its recommendations, issued last month, for widespread use, including in countries where the South African variant of the virus may reduce its efficacy.

“As of today, there is no evidence that the incidents are caused by the vaccine and it is important that vaccination campaigns continue so that we can save lives and stem severe disease from the virus,” WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said.

Italy Suspends Use Of AstraZeneca Vaccine

The Italian Medicines Agency (Aifa) followed suit of other European countries to suspend the use of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine.

“Aifa has decided to extend the ban on the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine as a temporary precaution throughout the country, pending EMA [European Medicines Agency] announcements. This decision was taken in line with similar measures taken by other European countries,” the regulator said.

France Temporarily Suspends Use Of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 Vaccine

France is temporarily suspending the use of a COVID-19 vaccine, developed by UK drugmaker AstraZeneca, President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday.

“European regulator EMA [European Medicines Agency] will give its opinion on the use of this vaccine tomorrow afternoon.

On the recommendation of the Minister of Health … it was decided as a precautionary measure to suspend the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the hopes of resuming it quickly if the opinion of the EMA allows,” Macron said during a press conference, adding that France suspends the use of the vaccine until Tuesday.

The Netherlands said on Monday it had seen 10 cases of possible noteworthy adverse side-effects from the AstraZeneca vaccine, hours after the government put its vaccination programme on hold following reports of potential side-effects in other countries.

Denmark reported “highly unusual” symptoms in a 60-year-old citizen who died from a blood clot after receiving the vaccine, the same phrase used on Saturday by Norway about three people under the age of 50 it said were being treated in hospital.

“It was an unusual course of illness around the death that made the Danish Medicines Agency react,” the agency said in a statement late on Sunday.

AstraZeneca Plc said earlier it had conducted a review covering more than 17 million people vaccinated in the European Union and the UK which had shown no evidence of an increased risk of blood clots.

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