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Controversy around AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine explained. What WHO says
The British-Swedish pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca on Monday said that a review of at least 17 million individuals suggests that the Covid-19 vaccine was safe for use.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has ruled out any link between AstraZeneca’s vaccine against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) and reported blood clots even as several European countries, including France, Germany, and Italy, suspended its use.
"We do not want people to panic and we would, for the time being, recommend that countries continue vaccinating with AstraZeneca," WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan was quoted as saying by news agency AFP. "So far, we do not find an association between these events and the vaccine," she added.
Here’s what you need to know about the controversy around AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine
1. Concerns about the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford in Britain were raised after three people were hospitalised in Norway last week with blood clots, bleeding, and low platelet counts after receiving the shot. One of them died of a brain haemorrhage, according to health authorities cited by AFP, while the other two were reported to be stable.
2. WHO safety experts shall meet on Tuesday while a probe to ascertain whether there is a connection between the vaccine and the complaints is underway. If there are similarities between the three cases in Norway is also being looked into, Bloomberg reported.
3. The British-Swedish pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca on Monday said that a review of at least 17 million individuals suggests that the vaccine was safe for use. The blood clotting events were not related to the vaccine, AZD1222, the company said in a statement.
4. WHO and European Medicines Agency (EMA) experts will separately discuss data from AstraZeneca vaccinations, and the European regulator will hold an extraordinary meeting two days later to decide on any further action, AFP reported.
5. Denmark was the first country to suspend the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine on March 11 as a precautionary measure. Iceland and Norway followed the temporary move the same day.
6. On Friday, Bulgaria suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine as it probed caused the death of a woman with several underlying conditions who recently took the shot, according to AFP.
7. Ireland and the Netherlands join the list on Sunday, followed by Indonesia and then Germany, Italy, France, Slovenia, Spain, and Latvia on Monday.
8. Australia, however, has ruled out the halt of the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, authorities said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also termed the shot “both safe and effective.”
9. AstraZeneca's shot, among the cheapest available, was chosen for supplying to the poorer nations.
10. The WHO has appealed to countries not to suspend vaccinations against Covid-19 that has killed over 2.7 million deaths across the globe. The global body’s director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said systems were in place to protect public health, according to Reuters.
