Srinagar: Three Scandinavia countries – Denmark, Norway, and Iceland – Thursday suspended the use of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine over reports of people developing post-vaccination side-effects.
AstraZeneca insisted the vaccine is safe.
Patients in Denmark developed serious cases of blood clots after receiving the jab. However, Denmark health authorities say “it has not been determined, at the time being, that there is a link between the vaccine and the blood clots”.
So far, 22 cases of blood clots had been reported among more than three million people vaccinated in the European Economic Area, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said.
On similar grounds, Iceland and Norway also suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
On Wednesday, the EMA said a preliminary probe showed that the batch of AstraZeneca vaccines used in Austria was likely not to blame for the nurse’s death.
Five other European countries – Austria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Luxemburg — have also suspended the use of a batch of AstraZeneca vaccines after a healthcare worker died of “severe blood coagulation problems” days after receiving the jab.
One million jabs of this batch of AstraZeneca were supplied to 17 European countries.
AstraZeneca, an Anglo-Swedish company that developed the vaccine with Oxford University, said, “The safety of the vaccine has been extensively studied in phase III clinical trials and peer-reviewed data confirms the vaccine has been generally well tolerated.”
Britain also put its weight behind AstraZeneca, saying the vaccine is “both safe and effective”.
