Denmark became at least the sixth European country to scale back the use of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine after some people who got it developed blood clots.
Health officials say they are investigating the cases, but there is no evidence so far that the injection from the British drug manufacturer caused the clots.
The Danish health and medicines authority halted the rollout of the AstraZeneca jab Thursday for at least two weeks after “severe cases” of blood clots in vaccinated people, one of which was linked to death.
Danish officials say they should take the time to investigate those incidents, even though there is good evidence that the AstraZeneca vaccine is safe and effective.
Magnus Heunicke, Denmark’s Minister of Health, said it is not clear yet whether there is a relationship between the injection and the blood clots. Danish officials are waiting for European Union authorities to investigate the possible link.
“Right now we need all the vaccines we can get. Therefore, pausing one of the vaccines is not an easy decision, ”Søren Brostrøm, director of Denmark’s National Health Council said in a statement. “But precisely because we vaccinate so many of them, we also have to respond in a timely manner if there is knowledge of possible serious side effects.”
Denmark’s decision came after five EU countries – Austria, Estonia, Lithuania, Luxembourg and Latvia – stopped using single-batch doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine this week over concerns about blood clots.
According to the European Medicines Agency, the EU’s medicines regulator, three people in Austria developed blood clots after getting the shot, including one who died 10 days after vaccination.
A fourth patient developed a pulmonary embolism, a condition in which a blockage forms in the arteries of the lungs, officials said.
The European Medicines Agency said there is “currently no indication” that the AstraZeneca vaccine caused these conditions, which are not listed as side effects for the injection.
EU officials are investigating the quality of the affected batch – including about 1 million doses delivered to 17 countries – although “a quality defect is considered unlikely at this stage,” the agency said.
A total of 22 cases of blood clots had been reported as of Tuesday among the 3 million people who had received the AstraZeneca vaccine in the 29-nation European Economic Area, officials said.
“The information available so far indicates that the rate of thromboembolic events in vaccinated people is no higher than that in the general population,” the European Medicines Agency said in a statement Wednesday.
An AstraZeneca spokesperson noted that the safety of the vaccine has been “extensively studied” in clinical trials and that peer-reviewed data has confirmed that the injection is “generally well tolerated.”
“Patient safety is the top priority for AstraZeneca,” the company spokesman said in a statement. “Regulators have clear and strict efficacy and safety standards for the approval of every new drug, including the COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca.”