Ireland temporarily stopped the use of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine on March 14. This is following a report from Norway of patients developing blood clots post-inoculation.
On March 14, the Norwegian Medicines Agency announced four new cases of severe blood clotting in adults after taking the vaccine.
Furthermore, the Irish National Immunization Advisory Committee (NIAC) made the directive as a precaution. However, it announced it had not been confirmed that there is any connection between the AstraZeneca vaccine and these cases.
Furthermore, it added that Ireland’s NIAC is meeting on Sunday to further discuss the suspension of the vaccine.
Notably, Ireland is the latest in European countries that have decided to halt the rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Meanwhile, health authorities in Austria were the first to sound the alarm on the potential dangers of the vaccine, suspending on Tuesday one batch of doses.
AstraZeneca announced earlier this week its vaccines are subject to strict and rigorous quality controls. They add that there have been no serious adverse events in association with the vaccine. Furthermore, the drugmaker said it was in contact with Austrian authorities and would fully support their investigation.
Still awaiting confirmation on the connection between the vaccine and blood clots
On Wednesday, the European Medicines Agency announced that there was no evidence to link AstraZeneca to the two cases in Austria.
On March 12, Italy halted the use of AstraZeneca vaccines following a serviceman’s death. The man had died of cardiac arrest a day after getting his first dose of the shot.
A day earlier, Denmark became the first European country to halt the AstraZeneca vaccine rollout.
The EMA, is now investigating whether the shot could have anything to do with the several reports of blood clots.
According to the EU drug regulator, four other countries have stopped injections from the batch while an investigation continues. These countries are Estonia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, and Latvia.
Furthermore, the Danish Medicines Agency announced it had started an investigation into the vaccine with European Union-countries and European Medicines Agency.
Remarkably, AstraZeneca has robustly defended its vaccine. They announced that there was no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism. Nor was there any evidence of deep vein thrombosis, or thrombocytopenia for individuals who had taken it.
European and UK medicines regulators have also announced a connection between the vaccine and blood clots has not been proved and that rollouts should resume.
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