Denmark, Norway and Iceland suspend AstraZeneca jab after blood clot reports!
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (PNN) – March 11, 2021 - Health authorities in Denmark, Norway and Iceland on Thursday suspended the use of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine shots following reports of the formation of blood clots in some people who had been vaccinated.
Austria earlier stopped using a batch of AstraZeneca shots while investigating a death from coagulation disorders and an illness from a pulmonary embolism.
Still, the European medicine regulator EMA said the vaccine’s benefits outweigh its risks and could continue to be administered.
Europe is struggling to speed up a vaccine rollout after delivery delays from Pfizer and AstraZeneca, even as a spike in cases amid a more contagious virus variant has triggered fresh lockdowns in countries like Italy and France.
Denmark suspended the shots for two weeks after a 60-year-old woman, who was given an AstraZeneca shot from the same batch used in Austria, formed a blood clot and died, Danish health authorities said.
Their response was also prompted by reports “of possible serious side effects” from other European countries.
“It is currently not possible to conclude whether there is a link. We are acting early, it needs to be thoroughly investigated,” Health Minister Magnus Heunicke said on Twitter.
The vaccine would be suspended for 14 days in Denmark.
“This is a cautionary decision,” Geir Bukholm, director of infection prevention and control at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI), told a news conference.
FHI did not say how long the suspension would last.
“We await information to see if there is a link between the vaccination and this case with a blood clot,” Bukholm said.
Iceland on Thursday suspended jabs with the vaccine as it awaited the results of an investigation by the EMA. Italy, also on Thursday, said it would suspend use of an AstraZeneca batch different to the one used in Austria.
Some health experts said there was little evidence to suggest the AstraZeneca vaccine should not be administered and that the cases of blood clots corresponded with the rate of such cases in the general population.
EMA said it understood the decision by Denmark and Norway was taken as a precaution.
Four other countries - Estonia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, and Latvia - have stopped inoculations from the batch while investigations continue.
The Danish Medicines Agency said it had launched an investigation into the vaccine together with corresponding agencies in other EU countries and the EMA.
Ed. Note: The “vaccine” is not a vaccine, either by medical or legal definition. It is a medical device designed to turn human cells into incubation chambers for pathogens. DO NOT TAKE THE COVID-19 VACCINE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!
