United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson defended the safety of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday. This follows many European countries pausing their dissemination over blood clot fears. Italy, Germany, and France joined other countries on Monday in the suspension of the vaccine.
UK PM Defends AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine Over Blood Clot Fears
The suspensions are being seen as a huge blow to the vaccination program against the coronavirus, which has infected and killed millions of people throughout the world. However, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), AstraZeneca, and Europe Medicine's watchdog, the shot is safe, and there is no association of the vaccine with reported blood clots.
The UK leader echoed on Tuesday assurances that the dose was not harmful. He wrote in The Times newspaper, "That vaccine is safe and works extremely well. It is being made in multiple places from India to the US, as well as Britain, and it is being used around the world," reported Mint.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the World Health Organization are slated to convene on Tuesday to review the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine following reports of blood clots. Sweden became the most recent nation to suspend the vaccine's distribution on Tuesday as a "precautionary measure" pending the results of the said meeting.
Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has also persuaded Britons to continue to take up the offer of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine. He noted it was "crystal clear" that the shot was safe.
According to Raab, different countries have different approaches, but he can provide assurance that the UK regulator, the European EU regulator, and the WHO all agree that the AstraZeneca vaccine is safe and people should continue to receive it, reported Evening Standard.
Netherlands Suspends Usage of AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine
Rollouts of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine were also halted in Portugal, Spain, Latvia, and Slovenia. On March 15, Italy's medicines regulator declared a precautionary, temporary prohibition on using the vaccine.
Alarm has grown in a number of countries over the safety of the AstraZeneca vaccine following several cases of blood clots or brain hemorrhages in people upon being administered the vaccination, with a small number of deaths reported. AstraZeneca and UK health experts have affirmed there is no evidence of clots resulting from the dose or that they are occurring in larger numbers or frequency than in the general population.
The British vaccine has been created by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford in Britain, where more than 11 million doses have been administered, with no significant health problems reported. According to Johnson on Monday, UK's Medicines and Healthcare products regulator (MHRA) is one of the most experienced regulators in the globe. They see no solid reason to stop the immunization drive.
Johnson added that they think they are highly effective in driving down not just admissions to hospitals but also severe illness and mortality. They continue to be very confident regarding the inoculation program, and he feels it is great to see it being rolled out at such speed across Britain, reported Opoyi.
