Following reports of several suspected deaths from clotting after inoculation of Covid-19 vaccine developed by British company AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, many countries halted the use.
Denmark suspended the use of AstraZeneca vaccine for 14 days due to fears of serious adverse reactions. The suspension came after several reports of blood clots following vaccinations and the death of a 60-year-old woman who received a shot and then died after developing a blood clot, according to the Danish news agency Ritzau.
Austria, Italy, Bulgaria, Romania, Estonia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia and non-EU countries Norway and Iceland have also banned the use of the vaccine as a precaution after similar reports of blood clots, which European drug regulators are still investigating.
Following Denmark, Norway and Iceland, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov also ordered the suspension “until an accurate and clearly confirmed diagnosis comes in writing from the EMA”. According to the country’s Health Ministry, Bulgaria had booked more than 4.5 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
In a statement, AstraZeneca said it had found no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis in safety data of more than 10 million records.
Commenting on the Irish suspension, a spokesperson for the pharmaceutical giant said: “An analysis of our safety data that covers reported cases from more than 17 million doses of vaccine administered has shown no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis or thrombocytopenia with Covid-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca.
