STOCKHOLM, Sweden (PNN) - May 18, 2021 - As Europe pushes ahead with its vaccination program, the Nordic countries are reporting a surge in damaging side effects. In Sweden, the tally has surpassed 30,000 with the majority of these reactions reported in patients who received the AstraZeneca jab.

Sweden's Medical Products Agency reported that as of last week, the Scandinavian nation had tallied 31,844 reports of adverse reactions linked to its vaccine rollout.

Sweden presently offers 3 different COVID-19 jabs: Moderna, Pfizer and AstraZeneca, with the latter being the most widely available (while other European states like Germany have sought to offer substitutes to younger patients, who are more vulnerable to dangerous cerebral blood clots, one of the known side effects.

The number of suspected adverse reactions from the two shots seems relatively small when compared to the 19,961 reports linked to AstraZeneca’s Vaxzevria, while the AstraZeneca shot only accounts for about 26% of the roughly 2.7 million vaccines that have been administered so far in Sweden, but actually makes up around 63% of the side effects reports.

Ebba Hallberg, an official with the Medical Products Agency, told Swedish media that it was unusual to receive so many reports of side effects. To head off complaints that many of the incidences of side effects were minor, she said healthcare providers are likely only reporting the more serious side effects.

One Swedish media outlet said the number of complaints filed in just a few months exceeded the number typically filed over 4 years.

In March, Sweden was one of several nations to temporarily suspend the use of the AstraZeneca jab, following reports of abnormal blood clotting in recipients. Meanwhile, AstraZeneca, as well as the European Medicines Agency - both of which have vested interests in maintaining the distribution of the jab - have insisted that the vaccine is safe, even though there is no empirical data to support those claims.