EU Regulator Sees No Reason to Refuse the AstraZeneca Vaccine

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The incidence of severe side effects from AstraZeneca vaccination is few and the benefits outweigh the risks, the EMA head said. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) does not currently have evidence that the British-Swedish concern AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford COVID-19 vaccine can cause thrombosis. This stated the EMA head, Emer Cook at a press conference on Tuesday, March 16. According to her, the number of such side effects cases is small compared to the total number of people vaccinated and the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. The head of the EMA noted that the cases of thrombosis were not detected during clinical trials of the vaccine and are not included in the list of its possible side effects. The EMA's Vaccine Safety Committee discussed post-vaccination thrombosis cases with AstraZeneca earlier in the day and is set to release its final findings prior to a special meeting scheduled for March 18. The EMA experts "will advise us on whether further action should be taken," Cook explained. Several EU countries have suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine Earlier there were reports of possible severe side effects of the AstraZeneca vaccine, in connection with which Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands and several other countries have suspended its use. In particular, in Germany, three out of seven detected cases of cerebral vein thrombosis among the vaccinated resulted in the death of patients. In Austria, a 49-year-old nurse died of blood clotting problems 10 days after vaccination, and her 35-year-old colleague developed pulmonary embolism.