The Danish health authorities put the vaccine on pause two weeks ago, after a few cases in Europe with blood clots among vaccinated people had been reported.
Now the break will be valid until and including week 15 – until 18 April.
According to the European Medicines Agency (EMA), the health benefits of continuing to vaccinate with AstraZeneca outweigh the incidence of blood clots. The EMA will not definitively rule out a link between the vaccine and the blood clots.
Examination of the data “has not shown any increased risk of blood clots in the lungs or deep veins within any age group, gender, in any batch or in any country that has used AstraZeneca’s covid-19 vaccine”.
Here you can read about how the world has reacted:
* 19 countries have or have suspended the use of AstraZeneca following blood clots:
Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Democratic Republic of Congo, Finland, France, Netherlands, Indonesia, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Germany.
* Following WHO and EMA reports, these countries have announced that they will use the vaccine again within a week:
Bulgaria, Cyprus, Finland *, France, Holland, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Thailand, Germany.
Some countries – including Austria – have chosen not to use doses from a single batch – a batch – of the vaccine.
* Finland has resumed use, but only for people older than 65 years.
Sources: The Danish Medicines Agency, the Norwegian Medicines Agency, EMA, AstraZeneca, Ritzau, NTB, TT, AFP and Reuters.
Source: The Nordic Page