WHO seeks to calm nerves on AstraZeneca

Reports of blood clots don't warrant halt to vaccine's use, health body says

The World Health Organization said countries should continue to administer the AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19 after more European countries suspended its use following reports of blood clots among people inoculated.

On Tuesday, Sweden became the latest country to pause use of Astra-Zeneca's vaccine.

The day before, France announced a halt in jabs with the vaccine until at least Tuesday afternoon, and Germany decided for an indefinite suspension. Spain, Luxembourg, Portugal, Slovenia and Cyprus also that day put the shots on hold.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who earlier questioned the vaccine's efficacy, said on Monday that his decision is a "precautionary measure" pending further guidance from the European Medicines Agency, or EMA.

German Health Minister Jens Spahn told a news conference: "In the light of these newly reported cases, the Paul Ehrlich Institute today reassessed the situation and recommended a suspension of the vaccination and further investigations."

The institute is Germany's federal medical regulator.

EMA Executive Director Emer Cooke said on Tuesday afternoon that its experts met earlier in the day and will carry on with investigations and meet again on Thursday to come to a conclusion based on the full information gathered.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday that the suspensions of the AstraZeneca vaccine do not necessarily mean the reported blood clots are linked to vaccinations.

"But it's routine practice to investigate them, and it shows that the surveillance system works and that effective controls are in place," he told a virtual news conference.

Tedros said the WHO's Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety has been reviewing the data and is in close contact with the EMA, including with a meeting on Tuesday.

Mariangela Simao, the WHO's assistant director-general for access to medicines, vaccines and pharmaceuticals, said the agency has been working with health regulators in Europe and other regions in assessing not only the reports regarding the AstraZeneca vaccine, but all the adverse effects from other vaccines. She expects more news related to the AstraZeneca shot to be announced in the coming days.

WHO Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan said people need to look at the benefits versus the risks, saying that "no drug or vaccine would ever be 100 percent" safe.

Monitoring required

The Indian scientist said that of the 300 million doses of various vaccines given to people so far, "there is no documented death that has been linked to a COVID vaccine".

"I think that while we need to continue to be very closely monitoring this, we do not need people to panic," she said.

"We would for the time being recommend that countries continue vaccinating with AstraZeneca," she said.

Denmark was the first country to suspend the rollout of the vaccine last Thursday after reports of blood clots.

The EMA on Monday noted that many thousands of people develop blood clots every year in the EU for various reasons, and the number of such events overall in vaccinated people doesn't seem to be higher than that seen in the general population.

AstraZeneca said on Sunday that a review of the safety data has not shown any evidence of an increased risk of blood clots.