Denmark, Iceland & Norway Temporarily Suspend AstraZeneca's Covid-19 Vaccine
Denmark, Iceland and Norway have exercised suspension over AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine usage on a temporary basis. The temporary discontinuation of the vaccine has been exercised over concerns regarding patients developing post-jab blood clots. It must be noted that Denmark was the first to announce the suspension of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine. The country’s Health Authority stated that the move is being carried out as a precaution. Furthermore, the link between the vaccine and the blood clots was not determined initially.
As of March 9, 22 cases of blood clots had been reported among more than three million people who received the coronavirus vaccine in the European Economic Area.
Recently, Austria announced its suspension of a batch of AstraZeneca vaccines post a 49-year-old nurse’s death due to “severe blood coagulation problems”, days after receiving the vaccine shot. It must be noted that Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, and Luxembourg have also suspended vaccine usage from this batch. The specific batch was sent to 17 European countries and comprised one million jabs. Denmark, Iceland and Norway have temporarily suspended the use of all its AstraZeneca vaccine supply.
AstraZeneca, an Anglo-Swedish company responsible for the novel coronavirus vaccine development along with Oxford University, defended its product’s safety. As per a spokesperson of the group, the safety of the AstraZeneca vaccine has been extensively studied in phase III clinical trials. Moreover, peer-reviewed data confirms that the vaccine has been generally well tolerated.
Britain, whose vaccine rollout has been largely ruled by the AstraZeneca jab, also defended the vaccine and termed it “both safe and effective”.
According to Soren Brostrom, Danish Health Authority Director, the country has not terminated the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine as only a pause has been exercised.
The Scandinavian country has a population of 5.8 million. Around 25% of people who have received their first dose were given the AstraZeneca jab. In total, 3.8% of the population has received two doses of novel coronavirus vaccine and 13.4% at least one dose.
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Disclaimer: This article is issued in the general public interest and meant for general information purposes only. Readers are advised not to rely on the contents of the article as conclusive in nature and should research further or consult an expert in this regard.
