By NewsDesk  @bactiman63

European health authorities have reported 22 cases of thromboembolic events (blood clots) had been reported among the 3 million people vaccinated with COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca in the European Economic Area.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

In Austria, the government suspended the use of a batch of COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca (batch number ABV5300) after a person was diagnosed with multiple thrombosis (formation of blood clots within blood vessels) and died 10 days after vaccination, and another was hospitalized with pulmonary embolism (blockage in arteries in the lungs) after being vaccinated.

In Denmark, the Danish Health and Medicines Authority has, based on a precautionary principle, chosen to pause vaccination with the COVID-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca after one person died.

Authorities do specify it cannot be concluded whether there is a link between the vaccine and the blood clots.

Last week, the Philippines Department of Health reported the receipt of 480,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines (not clear if it’s the same batch).

Today, health officials released in a press release that there is no reason to halt the vaccination:

The DOH and FDA are aware that a few countries in the European Union have recently paused their vaccination campaign with COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca following reports of blood clots in people who received the vaccine. This has been decided as a precautionary measure, while they conduct a full investigation to determine causality between the vaccination and the reported adverse events following immunization.

Moreover, the European Medicine Authority (EMA) has also emphasized that there is currently no indication that vaccination has caused these conditions, which are not listed as side effects with this vaccine, saying, “The position of EMA’s safety committee PRAC is that the vaccine’s benefits continue to outweigh its risks and the vaccine can continue to be administered while investigation of cases of thromboembolic events is ongoing. PRAC is already reviewing all cases of thromboembolic events, and other conditions related to blood clots, reported post-vaccination with COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca.”

At present, the DOH and FDA emphasize that there is no indication for the Philippines to stop rollout of AstraZeneca vaccines. The DOH, NTF and FDA are closely coordinating on this matter. The public is assured they will closely monitor all deployed vaccines.