EU regulator finds possible link between AstraZeneca vaccine and rare blood clots but says benefits outweigh risks
- Some countries have suspended the use of AstraZeneca’s vaccine for younger populations after it was earlier banned outright in several places over blood clot scares
- European Medicines Agency said blood clots should be listed as a ‘very rare’ side effect, encouraging countries to continue its use
The EU’s medicines regulator on Wednesday said blood clots should be listed as a rare side effect of the AstraZeneca jab but the benefits continue to outweigh risks, as several countries battle fresh virus surges amid vaccine shortfalls.
A number of nations have suspended the use of AstraZeneca’s vaccine for younger populations after it was earlier banned outright in several places over blood clot scares.
Britain on Wednesday said that people under the age of 30 should choose alternatives to the vaccine, after reporting 19 deaths from clots among people who received the shot.
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The back-and-forth over the vaccine comes as countries from Germany to Ukraine and India face new waves of infections and deaths from the virus that has now killed more than 2.8 million people globally.
Governments are scrambling to secure much-needed vaccine doses, with Australia the latest nation to complain of shortages that it blamed on EU export controls.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said on Wednesday that blood clots should be listed as a “very rare” side effect, encouraging countries to continue its use.
The announcement came after EMA’s safety committee examined reports of blood clots, but EMA chief Emer Cooke said no particular risk factor had been identified and the clots could be linked to an immune response to the vaccine.